Peace on earth. Is it attainable? I believe it is! But first, humanity must deal with its unwavering allegiance to the human clock—a crafty invention that, for better or worse, encourages the repetition of time-honored behavior. Time is both a gift and a curse. The 24-hour clock is not the problem. The measurement of time is not evil. Yet our awareness of time’s passage, along with our desire to keep track of time, has placed the human spirit in a state of bondage that most of us don’t realize.
Therefore, our awareness of time’s power to control our decision-making processes, is a key factor in changing undesirable behaviors that are repeated, from generation to generation. If we are to diagnose and overcome our time sickness, we must learn to master the craftiness of the clock’s deceptiveness, rather than allowing the clock’s deceptiveness to master human behavior. This change in thinking, would involve dethroning an invisible spiritual dictator, that hides behind the face of every clock.
That’s right! An unseen spiritual voice communicates with the human mind, and pressures the human spirit throughout our waking hours. Thus, our change in thinking would involve silencing this insidious government. It involves silencing its required obedience to itself. It involves silencing its delight in the continuance of injustice. It involves silencing its reward of powerful, first-place positions, in the world’s hierarchical systems. It involves silencing the demand that violence be returned with violence.
Is the clock really that powerful within the human mind?
No. Not the face of the image, itself, but the voice that hides behind the face!
Yes. I believe our deceiver’s voice IS that powerful!
The 24-hour clock, and its lesser spiritual government, positions the human spirit in a tug of war, which mimics the powerful pull of oceanic waters.
The constant tug, to and from light, as well as the pull, to and from darkness, mimics the lesser government’s deceptive nature. When poisoning occurs in small doses, its negative effect on the human spirit is almost never realized. So we remain blind to humanity’s spiritual dis-easiness. In spite of our seasick feelings of pulling and tugging, we somehow can’t point an accusatory finger at our love-hate relationship, with the 24-hour clock. We somehow can’t accurately accuse our spiritual accuser, even though our accuser hides behind the very image affecting human behavior. Thus, many people know that the human spirit is in constant battle mode, but we haven’t accurately diagnosed our dis-easiness, as a time sickness!
I believe we are being duped by an unseen enemy of our own making!
Fooled into remembering past wrongs, and deceived into thinking one more wrong will surely make things right! The longer that the battle rages in the spiritual realm, the more control this luring, deceitful, crafty government has within whole populations, religious movements, political agendas, and warring nations—all involving innocent people, who feel like helpless hostages, in a battle controlled by someone, or something, other than themselves.
To be more specific about the clock’s illusory power to rule over the moments of an ordinary day, I offer the following true story:
A young mother walks hand in hand with her son on the way to his kindergarten class. The small boy is a typical five-year-old who has little understanding of time beyond morning, mealtime, and bedtime. He realizes that school days are different than weekends and holidays. However, the clock is an object on the wall that has not yet claimed ownership of his young mind.
As mother and son approach the kindergarten classroom, the school bell rings. It is 8:15 a.m. She and her son make eye contact with her son’s teacher who is standing at the door. They both smile. Yet, as soon as the bell sounds, the teacher closes the door! After all, it is 8:15 a.m.
The teacher has a close relationship with the clock that rules her world. Anyone who is not in the classroom when the bell rings, is not allowed to enter the room without a tardy slip from the school office. It doesn’t matter if she can see her student approaching the door when the bell rings. If her student is not physically in the classroom, the door will be closed.
Based on the teacher’s rules, the young mother quickly proceeds to the school office to obtain a tardy slip. By the time her son’s body is on the correct side of the door, it is 8:17 a.m. The mother hands the tardy slip to the teacher, kisses her son good-bye, and wishes him a good day at school.
Sadly, the teacher’s strict relationship with the clock in her head, caused her to miss the best opportunity she had to set the stage for a good day at school, for one of her students. As the school bell rang, she had the choice to say, “Good morning little one! Come on in! Good to see you today!” But, in closing the door on an approaching student, the teacher clearly chose to honor her relationship with the 24-hour clock, over her desire to have a welcoming, warm-hearted relationship with a child, who has not yet learned the ultimate lesson in life—“the clock must be obeyed.”
Time-Honored Knowledge:
The human clock plays a major role in the everyday spiritual battles that affect the health, and well-being of the human spirit. The ancient story of Cain, in Genesis 4, suggests that we have the ability to master over this particular power. Time confused Cain—ultimately leading to his decision to kill his brother. Time exists as a silent presence in every biblical story, but rarely do we ‘see’ the role that time plays, in the actions of the biblical characters. Nevertheless, the spiritual battle between the gift of time, and the curse of time, is apparently winnable, if we can accurately diagnose our time sickness, and find an appropriate cure.
The sad part about the conversations in Genesis between Adam, Eve, the crafty serpent, and the spirit of God, is that they echo the same conversations we have today—thousands and thousands of years later. Therefore, we must not dismiss these ancient myths, without delving into the depths of their spiritual purpose. Do the stories point directly to the genesis of generational dysfunction, beginning with the measurement of time, 12,000 years ago, in the early garden? I believe they do.
Lest each generation thoughtlessly fall into the trap of conforming to, and modeling the behaviors of previous generations, we have some tough questions to ask.
- Are we ready to confront the timekeeping factor in generational dysfunction?
- Is it possible that a spiritual government has conned the human spirit, while hiding behind the face of the human clock?
- Who is in charge of the rules that the passage of time has established?
- Can the rules be changed or broken?
- Is God in charge of the gift of time? If so, whose God is in charge?
- How will the gift of time be used as time marches onward?
- If the human spirit has been conned for thousands of years, are we content to continue acquiescing to the lesser government, hiding behind our own timekeeping inventions?
- Are we doomed to repeat the failures of past generations, simply because we can’t diagnose ourselves as suffering from a time sickness?
- Or, is it time to say, “Enough is enough!” and accurately accuse our spiritual accuser?
The gift of time is ours to enjoy, and ours to control! Let’s rip the mask off of the spiritual deceiver’s face, and cut the strings of our temporal puppeteer!
Our spiritual school bell is ringing! It is calling us to learn an important life lesson.
How shall we respond?
Only time will tell.