Dominion over the Limitations of Time

Time is a great factor in human affairs. Through all human activity time must be observed so that men may perform their duties and keep their appointments punctually. The great advances made in the physical sciences have lifted many burdens from the shoulders of humanity, yet time itself seems more pressing.

An individual seems to be the slave of time from the moment of his appearance on the human scene until his departure. His age is recorded according to the time that has passed since his birth. No sooner is he counted into the population than the process begins of counting him out again.

The writer remembers the depression that settled upon him when in early years he recognized this pointless cycle. He was nothing bettered when in school he had to learn by heart what is popularly referred to as "The Seven Ages of Man" from Shakespeare's "As You Like It," though later he appreciated the rich language. On certain occasions too he joined in singing a hymn by Isaac Watts, two lines of which run as follows:

Is it true, then, that one is trapped in a time cycle from which death is the only escape? Christian Science answers vigorously that this is true, not of the real man, whom God made, but of the false sense of man, evidenced by the five material senses. These senses claim that man lives in a material body, which suffers from the corrosive action of time, and that this action is slow, inexorable.

The first mention of man in the Bible is in Genesis (1:26, 27 ): "God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them."

There is great encouragement here. As we establish in thought the nature of God, and so of man in His image and likeness, we begin to exercise dominion over time.

On page 465 of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, answers the question, "What is God?" with these words: "God is incorporeal, divine, supreme, infinite Mind, Spirit, Soul, Principle, Life, Truth, Love."

These terms, referring to the nature of God, Mrs. Eddy found in the Bible, either specifically or by implication. In this description of God, matter is completely excluded, and it therefore has no part in the man of God's creating. Though matter seems to be real and identical, it is mere false belief and is to be progressively put out of thought as we come to understand that "now are we the sons of God" (I John 3:2 ).

With this knowledge of the real man, the only man, who exists right now and right where mortal man seems to be, we can begin to express our freedom from the shackles of time. Can God, infinite Life, be subject to a time cycle? Can infinite Mind be aware of the passing of time? Can God, infinite, divine Love, include any corrosive element? The answer to these questions is a resounding negative. Man, then, the reflection or expression of God, lives in the eternal now, where time is unknown. He does not rise from oblivion to maximum achievement and then fade into nothingness again. He is at the point of perfection now and always.

That Jesus, the master Christian, was fully cognizant of this divine fact is evidenced by his declaration, "Before Abraham was, I am" (John 8:58 ). This statement was not a mistake in sequence of tenses. It sprang from his immaculate understanding of timeless being. He knew that the Christ, his spiritual selfhood, had existed and would continue to exist forever in the eternal now of Spirit. Thus he drew a distinction between the illusory man, fettered by time, and the real man, the image of Mind, free, untrammeled, joyous.

The clarity of his sense of omnipresence was demonstrated when the disciples "willingly received him into the ship: and immediately the ship was at the land whither they went" (John 6:21 ). The beliefs of both space and time had dissolved before the scientific facts of divine reality understood and applied.

We may not be ready to emulate our Master to this degree, but we can begin at once to claim our immunity from the limitations of time. Mrs. Eddy writes on page 246 of Science and Health: "Life is eternal. We should find this out, and begin the demonstration thereof. Life and goodness are immortal. Let us then shape our views of existence into loveliness, freshness, and continuity, rather than into age and blight."

We can begin now to "shape our views" by exchanging material sense for Soul-sense. We can claim, for instance, that man does not see by virtue of the mechanics of the human eye. The power of sight is in Mind, God, dwelling in eternal light and harmony beyond the reach of the ghostly beliefs of time and age; and this Mind is man's Mind now.

Similarly, man's hearing does not depend upon the structure of the human ear. The channels of communication in the realm of true consciousness are ever free and changeless. Man, God's image and likeness, cannot sink into decrepitude and uselessness. He is forever expressing the ceaseless and harmonious activity of creative Mind. Where there is no time factor, there can be no decay.

Many Christian Scientists who have glimpsed this truth of ageless being have preserved a youthful zest and mental and physical alertness which are commonly regarded as incompatible with their years. Julia Michael Johnston in her book "Mary Baker Eddy: Her Mission and Triumph," speaking of Mrs. Eddy, the beloved Leader of Christian Science, when she was past her eightieth year, says (p. 155), "There was an inner stillness about her which embraced her industry, a freshness which mellowed the touch of years, a drinking in of immortal essence which silenced the flesh."

We can follow Christ Jesus as Mrs. Eddy did, learning that man is the child of joyous, endless Life, and thus we can gain dominion over the limitations of time.