Current

So long ago, so much has changed,

Our lives rearranged

Like the quadrants of a Rubik's cube.

Do we match up anymore?

We can't know what lies in store 

When Faith, unsure of what it hopes for,

Stumbles over what to do

And fumbles, tumbles, falls-

Stalls.

But life goes on, its hectic pace

Not slacking up, not letting up,

Not slowing down a bit for those

Who need to do some catching up.

The tide of Time just streams on by

With Life caught in the current's flow.

Meanwhile, standing on the shore,

Watching while the world drifts on,

I wonder, how does one decide

To jump in, swim, be swept away

Or stand upon the bank--remain,

A constant in this world of change?

That teasing ache for certainty,

That longing to be filled, if only

Once, be something 'kin to Fate,

Something Absolute and Separate,

Calls out like a siren's voice,

Urging me to make a choice:

Cast off the past and start to row

Or get caught in the undertow.

Do I sink or do I swim

And let the current take me in?

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  I've been thinking a lot about time lately. Not just the usual complaints of there not being enough hours in the day (that's nothing out of the ordinary,) but more like musings on the passing of time. It's such a double-edged sword. Time heals wounds, but time also breaks down those things and relationships that aren't carefully maintained. I remember in college, I used to drive around the surrounding countryside and gaze for hours at old barns and homesteads that had fallen into disrepair from years of neglect. I always wondered what happened to make them unwanted, unused. There was a story to them all, and I wanted to know it. To me, they held a certain strange beauty, in spite of their brokenness... or perhaps because of it.

  There's a painting by Salvador Dali called "The Persistence of Memory" which portrays so perfectly the effect of time on our human minds. The clocks, draped over various other surfaces, melt and lose their original shape. In the same way, our perception of time changes as we move through it. We forget details about events in the past, we're unsure how long ago an event occurred, we struggle to remember exactly what an old friend looks like. Time wreaks havoc on our memories, making us wonder "What if ... ?  What if my memories are wrong? What if I've forgotten something important?  What if my mind eventually fails?"  

  So many of our concerns in life center around time and our perception of it, our place in it.  I can't really imagine an existence outside of time, but I have a feeling that eternity will be exempt from these sensations of time passing. Maybe exempt from time itself.  As for me, I can't wait to stand on that bank, having stepped out of this human experience called time, and bask in the eternal Sun.