God Has Put the Timeless into our Hearts – A Meditation on a Saying from Ecclesiastes

Archdiocese of Washington ^ | 9/25/2014 | Msgr. Charles Pope

[markomalley]

In the Book of Ecclesiastes from today’s [Sep 26] Mass, something is said that is quite powerful if we meditate upon it.

I have considered the task that God has appointed for the sons of men to be busied about. He has made everything appropriate to its time, and has put the timeless into their hearts, without man’s ever discovering, from beginning to end, the work which God has done (Eccles 3:10-11).

Somewhere in our hearts is something that the world cannot, and did not give us. It is something that is nowhere evident in the world, and yet, though not perceiving it, we still know it. This passage from Ecclesiastes calls it “the timeless.” We also often refer to it as eternity, or even infinity.

But where did this come from? The world is finite. Time on earth is serial. Things have a beginning, a middle, and an end. We do not experience anything here of the timeless. Rather, everything is governed by the steady, unrelenting ticking of the clock. Things begin and end. Every verb we speak is time-based, rooted at some point in time but never able to break free of it. Everything is rooted in chronological time. But somewhere in our hearts we can grasp the timeless. It is hard to put into words for we know it at a very deep level. But, we do know it.

The experience of “forever” does not exist in this world, but it is there in our mind and heart. There is no way to engage in time travel here in this world. Yet instinctively we know that somehow we can. Science fiction and fantasy often feature going back to the past or forward into the future. The world could not possibly teach us this for we are locked into the present and have never actually traveled in time. But somehow we know we can do it.

Eternity comes from the Greek word “aeon,” which means the fullness of time. It is not just a long time, it is all time: past, present, and future all at once. Look at the dot in the center of your watch and notice how 10am may be in the past, 6pm in the future, and 2pm now, but at the center dot they are all really the same. This is aeon; this is eternity, the fullness of time; this is a picture of timelessness.

Where did we get it? The world cannot give it, for the world does not have it. The world is finite, limited; it is time-bound, not timeless. Where did we get it?

Maybe it’s from God.

[markomalley]

Msgr Pope ping

[JPG]

[NYer]

Ping!

[left that other site]

I teach music, and along with it, songwriting.

The most positive and powerful lyrics are derived from words that touch on Eternity.
(either positively or negatively)

Always, Forever, Forever and Ever, Every, Everything, Everywhere, Everybody, Everyone, Eternally

Never, Nothing, Nobody, Nowhere, No-one, Ever

Someone, Somebody, Something, Somewhere.

Any, Anyone, Anybody, Anyone. Anywhere,

Just a few examples:

Always (Irving Berlin)
Somebody Loves Me(Gershwin)
Something (George Harrison)
Somewhere Over the Rainbow (Harold Arlen)
Someone Like You(Adele)
Anyway You Want It(Journey)
Anytime At All(The Beatles)
Always and Forever(Lionel Ritchie)

Those are just for starters. Monseigneur Pope gives us a glimpse into the reason these “loaded” words resonate so much in the Popular Song...we have Eternity written on our hearts!

And, if something is written, that means there HAS to be a “Writer”.

[circlecity]

I like what Peter Kreeft had to say about this book: “Ecclesiastes is the question the rest of the bible was written to answer”. That just nails it.

[G Larry]

The way I remember to associate the band with the song...

Since “The Byrds” is misspelled....I think of Tern, Tern, Tern.....

[Salvation]

I can honestly say this is one of favorite Old Testament readings:

Reading 1 Eccl 3:1-11

There is an appointed time for everything,
and a time for every thing under the heavens.
A time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to uproot the plant.
A time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to tear down, and a time to build.
A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance.
A time to scatter stones, and a time to gather them;
a time to embrace, and a time to be far from embraces.
A time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away.
A time to rend, and a time to sew;
a time to be silent, and a time to speak.
A time to love, and a time to hate;
a time of war, and a time of peace.

What advantage has the worker from his toil?
I have considered the task that God has appointed
for the sons of men to be busied about.
He has made everything appropriate to its time,
and has put the timeless into their hearts,
without man’s ever discovering,
from beginning to end, the work which God has done.

[JoeFromSidney]

I say, lucky the man who has discovered the task God put him here to do, and which only he can do. Many of us have to grope around to figure it out.