07 18 11 Two Perspectives on Time

As Cindee and I plan and work with the different relationships that are a part of our bioshelter home, we have to be aware of two distinct perspectives of “time”. All the systems operate as if time were a cyclical thing. Summer follows spring, which follows winter, which follows fall, which follows summer. This means that time and existence must, to a certain degree, be regarded as a cyclical, repeating thing.


This is true for nearly all of the bioshelter’s systems. The water system operates all year long, but every year there comes a time when we empty the cistern by using the water for gardening, replenishing it from a second cistern.[1] The passive solar heat system collects the heat in summer and gives it off in winter. The ceramic wood stove requires wood to be collected in summer and burned in the winter. The composting toilet requires emptying of a barrel every six months. As for gardening, there are seasons of the year for everything from collecting seeds and planting to pruning, harvesting and letting the land lay fallow. As I say, dealing with the immediate needs of the systems gives a distinctly cyclical view of time.


On the other hand, developing the building and the property for the future requires a more linear view of time. We want to add solar electric capacity sometime soon, and are trying to discover both what configuration is most practical for our location, and a plan to pay for it. We want to grow and collect more than half of our food within a year, building the capacity to do this consistently even in lean years. This requires learning about gardening (a hugely complex subject!), food preservation and diet options that use local foods and are also satisfying. We want fences to keep the moose out of our edible bushes (which we plan to plant beginning next year). Even our social vision includes working with our neighbors so that we slowly get to know one another, and also get better at sharing and helping one another out. The linear portion of life tends to be more creative, eventually creating a general plan for the future and a linear timeline to accomplish it.


Time and existence, it seems, are both cyclical and linear. As the Bible says, “There is a time to be born and a time to die (Ecclesiastes 3:8)” and in that cyclical sense, “there is nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9). But there is also a strongly linear portion of the Christian message. According to Bible creation was filled with promise and potential from the beginning, just by the way it was created. Scripture also teaches that creation is filled with anticipation because of what God is bringing about for the future (Isaiah 42:9). Although that future cannot yet exist—it is the future after all—there are hints of that future among us already. God continues to move and create among us, bringing the future out of the past through an emergent, evolutionary process.[2]


So I must ask myself how I approach time. Am I tending to that which is cyclical in life? Those things often feel more like maintenance, or duty-related things. They include systems maintenance like filter changing, or painting, or planning for next year’s seeds. I can put them on my calendar and make sure I am doing what is necessary on a proper schedule. I need also to apply this cyclical reality to other relational systems in my life. In my marriage, and in my larger family, am I remembering birthdays, or calling and visiting family and friends regularly? In my participation in society, am I keeping up on the news and participating in the events that make society function?


I must also ask myself whether I am tending to that which is linear in life? Am I planning and acting such that all may live more sustainably, day-by-day? Sustainable life means a life where all thrive, and in that sense sustainable life is a more abundant life. Sustainable life also means watching for what is evolving in our midst and nurturing new possibilities for fruitfulness and justice. Sustainable life includes a linear dynamic that is filled with anticipation, that consistently embraces the promise of what might be, and that celebrates both in word and in new ways of life when the time comes for the promise to finally emerge newborn into the world.


Finally, though I can only take responsibility for my own actions, those actions cannot only be about me. And so I must ask, am I encouraging others to live well both in the cyclical, maintenance parts of their lives and in the linear, creative sense? Their participation in the responsibility and in the creativity of our life together is just as important as mine.


[1] This assures us that any contaminates that might inadvertently make it into the system are eliminated.

[2] Although Christianity also teaches that the day will come for a new heaven and a new earth, hinting at another “watershed moment” of creation (Revelation 21:1). Even this, however, will be related to the old creation, restoring all beings to God in proper relationship.

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