Time is a matter of perception and perspective. The past and future are but instances of "now" from a perspective. (A talk presented at the Unity Center in Shreveport, Louisiana July 31, 2005.)

It’s About Time!
© George Sewell

The clock says that it’s 11:15 am. What does this mean? It means is that according to this electro-mechanical measuring device, the physical location of Shreveport is nearing the zenith when the sun is directly overhead today. Today, according to our calendar, is Sunday, July 31, 2005. These are wonderful tools. The clock, and it’s extension the calendar, help us locate the position of our planet, and thus our physical selves, in relation to the sun.

That ‘s all time is – a method for measuring the position of an object in relationship to other objects. Consider the physical situation in which we exist: The earth rotates, and shifts on its axis as it rotates. While rotating, the earth also moves around the sun. That’s a lot of movement regardless of our own coming and going. In effect, we are never in the same place more than once – something will have moved. Consider that the sun is also moving in dance with the galaxy, and the galaxy is moving relative to the constellation…and so on. It’s been said that you can not step into the same river twice. One foot in, pull it out; water flows, earth turns, nothing now remains as it was.

Clocks, maps, and calendars are very useful to us on this wonderful earth. We created them to provide a “cause and effect” structure to help us create while here. In a “time” sense, cause and effect can be considered “before and after.” Sequence.

Time is a matter of perspective and perception. Perspective and perception are points of view that come from within – they are not external, “objective” or the same for all. For instance, two people can go see the same movie. For one the movie was great and over quickly. For the other, the movie had little appeal and seemed to drag on and on forever. The same “amount” of time occurred for both, but their perceptions were quite different.

Another way of considering time is through perspective. Imagine that a friend is driving along a winding road in North Louisiana – you know the route – can’t see more than ¼ mile in front because of the trees. All that your friend knows is what he or she can see. The movement of the car continuously places your friend in a different place thus he can see more about the environment and trip.
Now imagine that you are in a hot air balloon a thousand feet above your friend. In the same instant that he looks down the road you also look. But your perspective allows you to not only see the car, but the road, the forest, the bridge, on coming traffic a couple of miles away and so on. You see and know all of this in the same instant.
Your friend does not and can not know these things from his perspective. “Time” must pass – as his car travels the road – before he will encounter (know about) the bridge, the oncoming traffic and so on.
In a sense, you see his “future” in that same instant.
Now imagine that you’re in orbit some 22,000 miles above the earth – geosynchronous orbit (always in the same relative position). You look down with powerful binoculars and see the hot air balloon and your friend’s car. You also see the state, continent, oceans and atmosphere. Depending on the moment, you look to the side and see at that same instant either dusk or dawn.
In that single instant your friend sees about a quarter of a mile. Your hot air balloon buddy sees a panorama covering miles, and situations that will occur in the car driver’s immediate future. From your perch in orbit you see all of that as well as the activities of millions of people and the earth itself. You even see – at that single instant – the next day.
It is the SAME instant. The perspective makes it unique. The greater the perspective the greater the experience. One minute of observation from orbit contains a lot more experience than one minute of observing pine trees along a road. The same measure of “time” passed.
Now, imagine that your perspective is from the planet Jupiter and somehow you can focus on any item in your field of vision (which from Jupiter includes a whole lot of universe!) In one instant as measured on earth you will observe things that would take your friend on earth more time to observe. Your friend on earth can look to the heavens, but the situation is such that he/she can not experience the vision that you have on Jupiter – at the same instant. Like seeing that little comet or asteroid loose in the area...
Further imagine that you have a cousin perched on the sun…you see how this keeps on going and going. Cosmologists recognize it as an ever expanding universe.
Continuing your journey through the cosmos then, imagine yourself at a point where you gaze upon the entire milky way in a single instant. You can see a galaxy move in that instant.
Wait a minute! You have a perspective that allows you to see a galaxy move in a single instant. In that instant how many times have the individual solar systems moved within the galaxy? How many revolutions did planets make around their sun in that single instant? Your single instant from this perspective might involve tens, hundreds, thousands of solar revolutions – years! Our clock here will have a tough time with that perspective.
So, what is time?
One wag noted that time is what keeps everything from happening at once. Or, perhaps, from being perceived at once. On any clear night you can look up and see the stars. As wonderous as they appear, they may, or may not, be there. All you see is the light – the vibration of energy on a certain frequency – emitted by the star long, long ago. The light may be just now arriving to your eyes. The star may have vanished before the earth was formed, but you won’t know that. As long as the light reaches and reacts with you, you perceive the star as real in your now moment.

Take another moment and think about a favorite person. Picture in your mind this wonderful person, wherever he or she is. In fact, do just that, think about where this person is and mentally go there.
How long did it take you to get there? How far did your thought travel? At present it’s not easy to measure empirically your mental journey to your favorite’s person’s location. Yet how often have you had a thought of someone and they called you on the telephone at that moment? Or you telephoned them?
How much time passed? Virtually none. Thought is about as close to omnipresence as we get. Thought moves faster than light (which is pretty swift as far as movement goes.) Thought might even be instantaneous – there is no interval between initiation and completion. Now that sounds kind of spooky. Einstein called it spooky action at a distance.
Physics has shown, much to the dismay of many, that an electron can exist in two places at the same instant. Mr. Newton may take issue with that observation but it appears that an electron – an incredibly tiny vibration of source energy – can vibrate in two or more physical locations at the same time. Once someone takes a peek at it (observation) it shows up in only one place since an observation requires an event, a location, and a moment of awareness.
It’s the action of the observer that determines the location and time of the event. Once again, perception and perspective – your observation, or awareness.
Time seems to be linked to these attributes of consciousness.

“But George,” you say, “I was born a long time ago. A lot of time has passed.” Yes. However, to your friend perched on the Milky Way your entire life is simply now. If there is a constant in time it is NOW. Regardless of perspective and perception, consciousness occurs now. It can’t occur yesterday nor can it occur tomorrow. It occurs now. Grasping the reality of “now” is the key.
For instance, I’m holding this book, now. I release the book, now. The book is now on the floor.
Some time ago when I was actively counseling, I had as a co-facilitator a crusty member of Alcoholics Anonymous who was doing 12 step work. In the group was a very unhappy rascal who kept disturbing everyone with his displeasure. Finally the crusty fellow said to the unhappy rascal “take it easy. Stick around today, and tomorrow you and me will go get drunk.” The unhappy rascal liked that and settled down. The next day he looked at the crusty fellow, “you ready?” “Ready for what?” “To leave and get drunk.” “When did I say we’d do that?” “Tomorrow.” “And tomorrow we will.”
Duh.
There is no tomorrow. There is only now. Whatever we may experience as tomorrow is created right now. Just as what we are experiencing now was created in the past now. Which according to the clock is about 11:35.
This reality is Good News. Right Now you are in command of what and how you think, and how you interpret via perception and perspective, your NOW moment. Whether in a car, balloon, space station in orbit, gazing from another star, there is “now.”

“But George,” I hear someone thinking, “I used to be young and now I’m old.” No question about it, “time” is real and continuous creation manifests. Let’s take a different look at time and human development, or aging as it’s often called.
Perspective and perception are they keys. How “long” is the passage of time from Halloween to Christmas for a six year old? It seems an eternity. To a parent, the same passage of time whistles by. That’s perception.
Perspective is where the fun is. Keep in mind our traveling friend. What is a child’s perspective? Very narrow, limited, restricted with little awareness of anything outside of self. Not much different from your friend driving along the curving road in the forest. Very limited information at any instant.
As a person develops his/her perspective increases. A teen-ager is still self-absorbed, but the information now includes other people, places, and some degree of cause and effect. Much like the person in the hot-air balloon.
It is said that a person doesn’t fully mature until late forties, fifties. A time when the physical ability to absorb information is reached. Consider a parent observing the antics of a young adult child. A single glance reveals what’s been occurring, what is the state of the person now, and pretty dog-gone sure what’s about to happen. All that information at once. The young adult, of course, will have some awareness of the “past” and full experience of the moment, but maybe clueless about experiences-to-be. In a sense, the mature person is in a space station in a high orbit and is able to comprehend tremendous information in a single moment.
Now, what point in life would you rather be? Me now? Or Me, then? There may certainly have been moments of delight and joy. It’s impossible to “go back” to then. It is totally possible to create delightful and joyful experiences Now. Or, prepare for them in a moment yet experienced.

But what about the view from Jupiter? That’s getting into serious perspective. It’s a point that’s possible to view, but like Jupiter, you’ll have to do it without your limiting body. This perspective is like the revelations you receive; a “Eureka!” moment; a flash of insight; a problem solved; a condition healed. Physically we can’t sit on Jupiter. We can elevate our perception to a higher level and literally tap into tremendous information. Much of our self exists in this vibratory level even when we are not aware of it in the Earthly “Now.”
The perspective from sitting on the Sun is greater still and would involve a frequency far above what gels our three dimensional realm. And, of course, a perspective from a Galaxy would transcend that – to know in an instant, a lifetime on earth.

It appears that “time” is less and less a component of sequential experience than an evolving vista of perception and perspective.

The greater the existence, the lesser the impact of “time.” There may even be a moment when “time” is not present – a perspective of knowing all.
And that, via clocks, calendars, and “time” is where we are going. We’re already there. Just now we don’t know it.

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