Ramblings - Published September 2022
This Months Ramblings from David
September 2022
The series of Ramblings has looked at a number of subject areas. Last month we looked at aspects associated with Trust and Journey. This month there is a look at Existence, Time and Place.
The Pebble
I walked down the beach one day. The sun, fresh in the sky, shone onto the newly washed untouched beach. Each footstep felt like the first; nothing else had left any imprint on the sand. There were many, but for some reason a single pebble caught my eye. It was sparkling in the sunshine, nestled in a tide carved indent of its own.
Taking the stone from the beach seemed like a good idea at the time. Maybe it was, but the initial sparkle and attraction was almost instantly dulled; as though taking it from the pristine surroundings and morning light had reduced what it was. Sat here, right now, writing this, the stone sits on my desk, offering a tangible connection to the day now past. Although it no longer glistens as it did, it does bring the memories to the fore of when it did shine in that brief window of time.
Just a pebble, no bigger than my thumb, made from the essence derived from the beginning of the Universe. The material is part of the ‘whole’ and always has been, but not always in the same way. It stands alone but is unified with all that exists. The substance that makes up the pebble is from the same place that makes up the bones in your body and the clouds in the sky. Is it an accident or is it by design that the pebble is the pebble, we are who we are and the world is what it is? If the pebble ceased to exist, would there be a hole in the whole of the eternal fabric of existence?
In an infinite existence, the size of the pebble is almost inconsequential. On the measure of time, one second in the infinite is as significant as a billion years. If a billion years was to disappear from the infinite it would not equate to anything more or less significant than one second in the overall picture; but each moment is special, important in its place. Time is proven in science to vary depending upon the speed at which something is travelling and the mass of an object that distorts space-time. The more mass an object has, time ticks slower. Although this is an interesting phenomena and is a hot discussion in the study of time travel, it is not considered as a material substance ceasing to exist. It still ‘happens’, just at different rates. In deep space (or the places in the cosmos where there is no material mass we can observe at present), time, according to the current understanding, will be ticking at its fastest rate whereas time in black holes, with their immense gravities, will be ticking at a much slower rate. If I was to chop my pebble in half and place one half on the edge of a black hole and the other back on the beach, the half on the beach would have eroded into dust, during which only a short time would have passed for the one at the black hole. One question is, ‘Is eternity longer for something if it could exist in a black hole as opposed to something existing in outer space?’ The answer is no – it is still eternity.
Time, space-time; it is described by Einstein to be the fabric of the universe. Its relevance to existence is as local as it is universal. Time may see an ice cream melt, mountains rise or galaxies coming into being. It is the fabric within which these things happen. It will remain the fabric within which these things have happened, are happening and will happen. It is also the same fabric that has been touched by life. Life that is as much part of the inner workings of your body as it is part of the whole of existence.
The pebble, although not alive, it is part of the ‘whole’ that is essential for life. Standing at the waters edge with the waves lapping over my feet, I am in a very real sense, connected with all the oceans of the world. The water itself is not considered to be alive yet it is more essential to the existence of the life of the teaming oceans than any fish you would care to mention. If an alien observer was to look at the World, would they conclude that there is life here? Yes. That therefore means that our solar system is a solar system with life. It also means our galaxy is a galaxy with life. Would an observer look and conclude the universe has life? Yes. The universe has life. That is something we know for certain. Is the Universe therefore alive?
Where does your life exist? Does your life exist in your finger nail? Cut off your nail and do you still have your life? Does it exist in the ear, your hair, your brain? There are parts of your body that are needed to maintain your life within the body, but the life you know, and call your own, is more than any part of your body; the true essence is separate from the material substance of your being; maybe your life is no bigger than a pin head for example. Does that pinhead get described as the only part of you that is alive? No. It is the same for the World, the Galaxy and the Universe. The Universe is alive because it has life but that life is more than the Universe. It is however the Universe and time, space-time, that gives us the understanding of what we know life to be.
Time; the never was until it has been. Does the moment placed exist forever or is there a passing of presents, known with only the knowledge of what is perceived, to then recognise it as instantly passed? Is a walk in the woods the ‘present time’ while you are there or is the ‘present time’ the glimmer of the smallest of moments of time, that sees a footstep part placed which we can grasp as, and call, the reality of what is the present?
If I was to take the pebble back to the beach and leave it where I found it, it would not be in the same place. We are on a planet, in a galaxy hurtling through space. There is no second where you are in the same place. If you went to your bed and lay still for one hour, you would not get out of bed in the same place. The bed relative to the room and the things outside the window has not moved but the movements in the cosmos are massive. The Milky Way Galaxy is travelling at a massive 1.3 million miles per hour in one direction. That means after an hour, you will be getting out of bed 1.3 million miles away from where you got in. Putting the pebble back in place may look similar but by now it will be billions of miles away from the place in space-time that it was originally taken from.
Does it matter that we are travelling through time and space? With every movement, there are subtle changes in the forces that impact upon the world. It is a journey where many things, like the glistening of a pebble are transient, yet there are also things that are wonderful that can not be moved that exist at this place, have been there always and will be there always. These things, unlike my pebble, are forever wonderful and will always shine.
Previous ramblings can be found in the archive. Click the link: Ramblings Archive
