Food For Thought: The Fourth Dimension

I was reading a physics book earlier this year (The Elegant Universe by Brian Greene), and it was really interesting. Let's just say I understood many spiritual things through reading a book like that. I thought that was odd, because I feel like I am one of the few people who can extract spiritual truths from scientific material.

But I was reading another book this year (Unexplained Mysteries of Heaven and Earth by Ron Phillips), and the author actually referenced the book above. He was discussing a chapter on angels, and he mentioned that there were not just 3 dimensions to the universe, but that there are 11.

11 dimensions. I remember reading about that in the physics book. And it was a lot to wrap my mind around. I have to go back and read it again, actually. Just to let it soak in.

11 dimensions. There are dimensions we don't notice, that run perpendicular, parallell, and fold in on each other. There's much going on that we simply can't see.

So I know the 3 dimensions all too well: length, width, height.

So that means there are 8 other dimensions that we can't see or we just don't pay attention to.

It gives the bible verse 2 Corinthians 5:7 "We walk by faith, not by sight" some serious ground to stand on. Serious.

Hmm... I suppose there is still some argument in the scientific community over that. If all the theories are true, then... hmm...

It makes perfect sense spiritually. Perfect. But it doesn't make much sense to this sensual and logical mind of mine. Human beings are quite carnal, living by our 5 senses- taste, touch, smell, hearing and sight.

I am, however, interested in the 4th dimension.

Ah yes... the 4th dimension.

And what is the 4th dimenstion?

TIME

Time, time, time.

Time is the 4th dimension.

It is also a song by Culture Club.



I loved that song when I was... 13.

"Time won't give me time... And time makes lovers feel... like they got something real... but you and me we know we got nothing but time! And time won't give me tiiiiiime! Won't give me tiiiiiiiiime!"

"Tiiiiiiime! Tiiiiiime! Tiiiiiiime!"

I'm sorry. I just had to stand up and pop my fangers and sang for a second.

And you know what? I have NO idea what Boy George and the crew were talking about. No idea whatsover.

But you know what? Over the years, I have learned a few things about TIME.

TIME is a close cousin to revelation. They walk hand in hand, skipping through the high and low places of our lives.

Revelation comes with the passage of TIME.

Many things are revealed with the passage of time.

And here's my list of those things. It is a bit wordy. May be even convoluted. It is by no means exhaustive, though. After you read it, you could probably add to it. This is just from my personal experiences.

Time will reveal flaws in the most well-thought out plans. I know I have made plans over the years, and some of those plans have worked out, and some have failed. I have discovered the failure or success depends on what goes on over time, in the midst of working those plans. Unless I pay strict attention to the sticky areas and flaws, and fix them, then I will fail. A chain is only strong as its weakest links. Same for plans and goals. I am in the midst of thinking about that right now when it comes to some things I've been hoping to do over the past year. Much time has passed and I am stuck in the same place as I was in the beginning of the year. If I look over the past year, I can find the weak links that have caused me not to progess.

Time let's me know whether an answer to a prayer is real or not.  I get a LOT of answered prayer. I mean a ton. And you know, that's the way it's suppose to be. Sometimes I know immediately if it's the right thing, and sometimes I just have to write it down and go back to it. Sometimes that answer requires action. In all cases, in time, I know if it was an answer or not.

I love when some of the older, more seasoned women of the church have a chance to preach sermons. It makes for some interesting stories on The Color Purple level indeed. One said something last year that I will never forget. She said if we are praying about things, and we think we have an answer but are not sure, then sit it (the answer) on the shelf. In time, we will know what to do with it.

If I don't remember anything else. I will remember that.

Time reveals hidden agendas. I think about agendas. I know I spend time thinking about my own. But I think that we are more concerned with other people's agendas. People have commented that I pick up on this very well.  Much of that comes from watching how people deal with people around them. And over time, people have interesting patterns. We may not know much on day 1 of dealing with people, but on day 365, we know a lot. The difference it that much time has passed.

Time reveals the strengths and weaknesses in our character. This is pretty much self explanatory and loosely related to time revealing flaws in our plans. I am very much aware of my own strengths and weaknesses because I've spent some 43 years with myself. But I don't know much about YOUR character upon first meeting you. But over time, I learn much about your character, and it determines if I should deal with you or not. And what I learn determines whether I mesh well with you or not.

People say I am a very good judge of character. It's not that. I know my own character and personality well, and there are just people I can't deal with well over long periods of time. I know I don't deal well with gossipers, complainers, negativity, and emotional abuse. And I consider those behaviors as things that clash with my character, or traits I am trying to remove from my character. And again, the more time that passes, the more I see and understand this about myself and people.

Time reveals motives.  Motives, motives, motives. You know how I feel about motives. I have written a few posts on it (See "The Mysterious Motive Machine"). This again is closely related to my thoughts about hidden agendas above.

I spend a lot of time thinking about my motives. And I think because of this, I pick up on the motives of others pretty quickly. But I am more concerned about my own. Sometimes I just don't know what my motives are. But over time, it will be revealed whether they are good or bad. But that takes time.

Time reveals the quality of our friendships and relationships.   We all have experience with this.  And I think it ties many of the comments I've made in this post together very nicely. It is revealed over time whether the people we deal with are good for us or bad for us. Plain and simple.

Many years ago, I was watching someone minister about personal relationships. He said we should make a list of people in our lives. Next to each name, place a "+", a "-", a "x", or a "/".

"+" = the person adds value to my life.
"x" = the person "multiplies" me, i.e., they make me a better person, many times over.
"-" = the person subtracts from my life; the person drains me.
"/" =  the person is highly divisive.

The minister said people who subtract from your life or who are highly divisive, GET RID OF THEM.

Plain and simple.

That's a little harsh. I suppose it is. Nothing really wrong with surrounding ourselves with people who drain us or people who are highly divisive. (Just writing that doesn't even seem right).

But think about the time implications here.

What is the of surrounding ourselves with people who have a "-" or "/" next to their name...

For 1 day?
For 1 week?
For 1 month?
For 1 year?
For 10 years?
For 20 years?

Hmm... When I look at it that way, over a span of time, it all makes sense.   Time makes a difference.

What in the world happens to my quality of life when surround myself with divisive and draining people... over a span of 20 years? Conversely, what happens when I have people who add to my quality of life or who are a blessing to my life... over a span of 20 years?

And I am bad about it. It don't take 20 years to figure out if you are a detriment or an asset. Lord knows I don't deal with people who drain me. And that divisiveness melts over into the area of hidden agendas and bad motives. No ma'am. No sir. I don't deal with that. And I don't care if you don't like it. I told someone the other day, there are certain people that I don't want to like me. Yes there are. On purpose.

It doesn't even take 20 years. A person can show up and blow your emotional house sky high in no time. Conversely, someone can show up and build your emotional house up. I'd rather have the latter. I'd rather be the latter.

I want to be that person that you can put a "+" or "x" next to my name. I want to be that to anyone I interact with, whether short term or long term. I want to be an asset, not a detriment.

All I know, the more time that passes, the more we recognize things about people.

More importantly, the more time that passes, the more we recognize things about ourselves.

As you can see, I think much about Time, the 4th dimension. It's really important in the area of physics, and it meant much to read about it in that regard.

But I am much more interested in time on an emotional, mental, and spiritual basis.

"Tiiiime! Tiiiiime! Tiiiiiiiiimmme!!!" *LadyLee singing hard like boy George*