God is timeless, un-begotten, and not created by anything or anyone else. God is not subject to anything or anyone, while everyone and everything is subject to Him. He is "the Author of the Heavens and the earth, and all things visible and invisible."
Man was created in due time by his Creator, God. No matter how long he lives upon the earth, he is subject to the ravages of time. In the afterlife, humanity will also be eternal and unchangeable. This will be the state of man especially after the Universal Resurrection of all people and at the Last Judgment of all by Jesus Christ, the Redeemer and Saviour of the world.
A definition of time does not exist. It is simply a notion by which we measure our lives and in general the duration of an event.
Time is a subduer of everything. Everything is tamed by time, because "everything is flowing and in motion." Everything on earth is always changing, and subject to corruption. Everything is tamed and subdued by time.
God, who created us, gave us the opportunity to live a certain number of years upon this earth. We should not simply attribute this solely to God. We are also responsible for how long we will live on the earth. This depends, of course, upon the will of God, but also upon how much we live a healthy life, guided by proper choices in life. When we live a measured and modest life, we will live better and longer. When we make all sorts of bad choices that will negatively affect our bodies, we will live a bad life that will certainly result in a shorter life upon the earth.
We can say that time is the most valuable possession in life. The second and the minute that we live now, can never be relived. The moment we live in now, is totally under our sovereignty. The moment that has passed, is gone forever. If you have made good use of this time, you have gained this moment. If not, you have lost if forever.
The time that we live on earth is of utmost importance for our life here and now, but also for our life in eternity. Let us consider a simple example. You are young. You make good use of the time at your disposal. You work hard. You accumulate a certain amount of wealth. You deposit this in the bank in order to collect interest, and this wealth begins to work for you on its own. In time, the money you have deposited in the bank begins to double and to multiply many times over. The same principle applies to the formation of good character within us. Our good character and charitable acts of mercy and good works will eventually multiply in time, much more rapidly than money in the bank will, because this will continue in the afterlife and in eternity. The only things that we will take with us after death, is our good character and our good acts of mercy and charity toward others.
The most basic and important thing in life is the proper and advantageous use of time to our benefit. This determines everything in life, such as the living of a good life on earth, but more importantly, the inheritance of the eternal Kingdom of God. It depends on us and our choices in life, if we will suffer corruption during the days of our life on earth, or if we try to be renewed in life through leading a virtuous life on earth.
2011 is now gone and forever in the past. We will make the best use of the time in this New Year if we pause in order to reflect a bit, and to evaluate our works and actions done in 2011. By the Grace of God, the New Year of 2012 opens anew before us. None of us knows when and how it will conclude. Perhaps we will reach the end of 2012, or we may go on to live for many more years. Some may be suddenly called to take that journey into eternity in 2012. Today, let us raise our “mind, soul and heart” to the heavens and let us render thanks to the Almighty Thrice-Holy God for granting us the gift that was 2011 that we were accounted worthy to live. Let us also give thanks for the gift of the New Year that today opens before us. It is towards our material, but more importantly, in our spiritual interest, that we are called to make proper and advantageous use of every second, minute and hour in our life.
I extend to all my prayers and best wishes for a Happy New Year, blessed by God with the blessings of health and spiritual joy and progress. I sincerely hope that all of us enjoy both material but especially spiritual progress in this New Year that opens before us.
With fatherly love and warm wishes,
Metropolitan Archbishop Sotirios of Toronto (Canada)
TS:pa
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