Skip to footer

Unconfined by time

Feeling as though time is getting the better of you in one way or another? Considering time from a spiritual standpoint can bring freedom from limitations of all kinds.

Christian Science Perspective audio edition
Loading the player...

There are many ways in which time appears to hold sway over our lives. We can have too much time on our hands, or too little time to achieve all we need to. We can face chronic illness with no end in sight, or conditions that are assumed to be age-related. Or we can be disappointed when leaning on time to bring a needed healing. We can be distracted from the present by getting lost in nostalgia or being consumed by a fear of the future.

Many people have found that Christian Science liberated them from various situations where they’d felt constrained by time. The Christian Science textbook defines “time” in part as “mortal measurements; limits...” (Mary Baker Eddy, “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures,” p. 595). Learning more about God as the limitless, ever-present, infinitely good Spirit that created us equips us to demonstrate more fully in our daily lives that neither God nor God’s children are truly confined by time.

We’ve pulled together just a few examples from the archives of The Christian Science Publishing Society that illustrate how individuals have found spiritual solutions to issues related to time:

Whether it seems we have too much or too little time on our hands, divinely inspired selflessness can bring renewed energy and purpose to our days, as the authors of “Unselfishness: a recipe for time management” and “No time for boredom” share.

In “Finding balance: Look at the big picture,” a mother explores how keeping our thought grounded in God helps maintain and restore order and balance in our lives.

In “Chronic depression healed,” another mother shows how healing is possible even when it seems a problem has been around for a long time, sharing how she found healing of chronic depression, suicidal thoughts, and lack of self-worth that she’d felt since childhood.

The author of “Our true selves – ageless and free” shares how the realization that we are God’s reflection freed him from painful symptoms that seemed related to the passage of time.

“Not just tomorrow – now!” dives into the idea that even if it seems as if only time can bring about the healing or solutions we seek, we can trust in God’s immediate help, right here and now.

When we glimpse the fact that we can experience the fullness of God’s goodness right now, then we realize that we don’t need to feel stuck in the past or take problems with us into the future, as the guest on the podcast “Make things new by revising the past” explains.

In “Overcome fear – act in the living now,” a woman discusses how we can master fears of the future.

And a short and sweet poem titled “Truth, not time” highlights the eternal nature of God’s goodness and blessing for all, unconfined by time.

Some more great ideas! To read or share an article for teenagers on the permanent supply of joy that comes from God titled “When I felt depressed during lockdown,” please click through to the TeenConnect section of www.JSH-Online.com. There is no paywall for this content.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to Unconfined by time
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/A-Christian-Science-Perspective/2021/0309/Unconfined-by-time
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe