How Christ Transcends All Space and Time

Here, time turns into space…and if time could turn into space, can space turn into time? – [VALIS, Philip K. Dick, pg. 32]

As I pondered this, I realized something: Whenever I slow down and pause, and stop moving, then I become aware of the Universe, and of the Christ who fills all of space.

Space is the expanse and Time is sequential. In other words, to experience Time we must be aware of motion [one thing after another], but to experience Space we must stop our motion – our movement through Time – and become more aware of the Universe which surrounds us, and the Christ who fills all things.

See, no one ever has an epiphany of their place in the Universe and the magnitude of the Infinite God while they are multitasking. It just doesn’t happen that way. Instead, we need to still ourselves, find a quiet place, and sit in silence for a few minutes so that our movement through time is slowed down and we begin to become aware of the vastness of Space, and our place in this Universe.

So, we either focus on Time – and then we are unaware of Space – or we focus on Space – and that can only happen if we slow down and stop moving from one thing to the next which is how we move through Time.

I’m not sure why, but it does not seem we, as humans, are made to naturally experience both the awesomeness of Space and the sequential nature of Time all at once. It’s either one, or the other, but almost never both.

I’ll go ahead and say that I don’t think anyone has ever really fully experienced both at the same time, but I may be wrong about that. I’ll just admit that I have never done so. If you have another experience, I’d love to hear about it.

My assertion is that when we reduce our focus on Time we can experience the fullness of Space, and when we increase our focus on Time – activity, sequential motion, staying busy, etc. – we lose our awareness of Space.

In this analogy, I mean more than just Space as the air between physical objects, of course. I’m speaking of Space in terms of a metaphysical, cosmic reality which is filled with the fullness of Christ.

As we read in Colossians:

 “He [Jesus] is the image of the invisible God…For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell…” [Colossians 1:15-20]

“‘For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.” [Colossians 2:9-10]

We experience this fullness of Christ whenever we are still and “know” that God is all around us; we realize that Christ is within, and without; we experience the indwelling presence of God and we realize that God is always with us, and never leaves us or forsakes us; we begin to know that God is love and that nothing will ever separate us from this great love; we start to become filled with this love that transcends knowledge and we lose all of our anxiety about our activity in the realm of Time; we start to understand that we don’t need to worry about tomorrow, and that ultimately all that matters is that we are reconciled to God through Christ and loved beyond imagination; lavished with the love of a God who calls us His children.

So, even as in Christ all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and even as in him the whole fullness of the deity dwells in bodily form, so also we, the Body of Christ, are filled with “the fullness of Him who fill all things in every way.” [Eph. 1:22-23]

What I really wonder is: Is it possible, once we have slowed down Time and experienced an awareness of the Divine in Space, can we move slowly enough from that point through Time to carry this awareness along with us without losing it?

In some ways, I think this is a worthy goal for us to pursue. I think Jesus did this, and I believe that we should also be capable of carrying this great awareness of the fullness of Christ with us as we go through Time.

For now, all I get are these oasis moments where I sit down and become still and begin to experience the awareness of the vastness of God who fills all Space and whose love is wider, higher, longer and deeper than I know.

Eventually, however, I need to get up and move on with my life and this involves doing tasks and moving sequentially through Time. Once I do that, my awareness of the vastness of God and Space fades into the background, until the next time I sit down, grow still, embrace silence, and exchange Time for Space.

It’s like a Dot-Dash-Dot-Dash, Morse Code existence.

One day I hope to find a way to carry that awareness of both with me at all times.

Becoming aware of our connection to the Universe and to Christ who is the fullness of the Godhead, who fills us and fills all things in every way, is the most important first step we need to take.

Then we need to make it a practice to continually re-experience that connection with God and this fullness, and then, perhaps, one day we find a way to sustain a constant awareness of Space in the flow of Time.

One of the keys may be to not move so quickly. Our travel through Time should be slow enough that we don’t outpace our awareness of Space. Sort of a version of the Southern proverb that says, “Never drive faster than your angels can fly.”

It’s like trying to hold a balloon out the window of a moving car. As the car goes faster, eventually the forces pushing against the balloon, and the string will either pull the balloon off the string, or pull the string out of your hand.

So, we should never move faster – or be more busy – than our ability to maintain our connection to the Divine. [If that makes sense].

One of the keys to this is not to worry. When we worry, we take our focus outside of the “Now” where we actually experience reality, and we start to worry about tomorrow which is outside our field of vision.

The available light I have is right here and right now. I can’t see tomorrow because I’m not there yet. But, right now, I can see clearly where I am and what God is doing. This is enough for anyone to handle at any one time.

The nexus of all Space and Time is “Now” because Time is linear – a progression of points – but we only experience time in the immediate moment, or the “Now.”

Put another way, we’re not actually moving through Time. We exist as individuals in a vast, endless Space, but it is Time which is passing through us. We experience Time in the Now, and then it’s gone. We can see the moment coming, and then we experience it in this exact moment, and then it passes, and we remain individuals who sit motionless in the Now, surrounded by the endlessness of Space.

My hope is to learn how to develop this ability to carry the awareness of Space with me as I pass through Time, without letting go of the simplicity of Now.

I want to fully comprehend the reality that God is in Christ, and Christ is in me, and that the fullness of God in Christ is also filling me, and all things, in every way.

When do we begin? How about Now?

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Keith Giles was formerly a licensed and ordained minister who walked away from organized church 11 years ago, to start a home fellowship that gave away 100% of the offering to the poor in the community. Today, He and his wife live in Meridian, Idaho, awaiting their next adventure.