When I was laid off from my job, I was given a “transition package” – a few months of salary and benefits which allowed me to rest, relax and consider my options without having to worry about income. It was the gift of time. But as the days and then weeks passed amazingly quickly, I started to worry that time was running out. After all, this gift was limited. There is only so much time. Isn’t there?
On my morning run, I sometimes ask for guidance from what I call “The Spooks” (God, the angels, my higher self – whatever), and here’s the gist of what came to me this morning when I was pondering my own shortage of time:
Time is infinite. It appears in this reality that there is a finite amount of time. That you only have so many days or years of time before you die. But in fact, that is an illusion and the result of the linear nature of the mind’s perception. Infinity exists in every moment. This isn’t something you can “understand” or think about; it’s something you can only experience by sitting in silent meditation and being truly present in the now. Within the now is eternity. If you will take the “time” to sit in silence and allow yourself to truly experience the fullness of now, you will begin to experience the elasticity of time in your day-to-day waking life.
And…everything you think of as limited or finite: money, food, water, etc., is a metaphor for time.
Okay. All that sounds great and true. And, believe me, it loses a lot when I have to put it into words. In fact, it was quite profound and life-changing to “receive” that guidance as I ran. But as I sit here and type it up, and especially as I look at the last line – which, really did ring true when I “heard” it – I start to squirm. What is that saying? That people who are hungry or thirsty should just meditate and suddenly they will have enough to eat and drink? I mean, loaves and fishes are one thing, but, seriously? Somalia?
But then it occurred to me. I don’t have to explain it or justify it. And as “they” said, it isn’t something I can understand with my linear mind. But I will say this: I believe it to be true. So I’m going to try it. Sit in silent mediation on a regular basis and see what happens. After all, I have the time to do that now.
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