Time: A Simple Understanding, and a Deep Question

One thing we must remember is that anyone who teaches was once a student.  I recall those days, sitting in a classroom and being told time is a dimension.  I pondered why time?  Then I would ask questions such as could there be a fifth dimension?  At that point in my studies no professor had explained why time is a dimension, other than Einstein said it is.  I would try without success to offer other things, such as momentum, electrical charge, and so on.  The answer was always the same, no!  Why not?  That question would go unanswered.

When one teaches one has to explain.  I wanted to make things clear to my students.  So, I would make simple examples to explain a complex idea.  We are located in this universe by a coordinate system, and my students were aware of placing things in three-dimensions.  Then I would say that time also locates us in the universe.  It is not simply where you are, but when you are there.  One example I give is a student can show up an hour after class each time we meet, and will learn nothing, since class would be over.  A more emphatic example is one can cross a highway, and a truck can pass on the highway.  Where the two paths cross it is fine for either the person or the truck to be at that point, but not at the same time. 

So, to make things as simple as possible, a dimension helps locate things in the universe, both spatially and in time.  Nothing else does this, so there will be no fifth dimension, ever.

Time differs from the other dimensions.  As a simple example I mention that a student can leave class, remember leaving a pencil, and retrace the path taken.  It is likely the pencil will be recovered.  However, if the student leaves a hundred-dollar bill behind, retracing a path may not lead to a happy reunion.  Too many people would take the money, even though the right thing to do is to find the owner.  The way this could be prevented is to retrace all four dimensions, but this is not possible.  Time is not reversible.  Nor can it be stopped.  It always moves forward.  I am aware of time dilation, but that is relative to a reference frame. 

If there were no matter, space and time would not have meaning.  At least current theory contends this is so.  Somehow, matter is needed to have space and time according to theory. 

Does time exist for spirits?  Well, it appears sequencing of events does, so in that sense time probably does exist, although possibly not quite as we know it.  But we know very little about the spirit world.

Perhaps a better question would be does time exist for God?  When Moses encountered the burning bush, God described Himself as “I am.”  This phrase implies an existence that simply is, where past, present, and future have no meaning as we understand these concepts.  But, even if time has no meaning when pertaining to God, such a concept of a timeless existence may not pertain to other spirits such an angels and saints, at least not in the same way.  Here we can just speculate, for we have no way to know.

If you find understanding time as a dimension challenging, trying to understand time for God and spirits is even more challenging, perhaps well beyond our ability to grasp.

When we attempt to understand time, we first must ask whether it is in the physical universe, or a spirit realm.  Like so many things, the word may take on different meanings. 

I hope I made time as a dimension more understandable, and that I did not confuse too much with time in a spirit world into which we have little insight.

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