Timeless?

January 7th, 2012| Topic: RaMbLeS | 0

Harry Potter had it—a cloak of invisibility, one of the fabled Deathly Hallows. This fascinating piece of cloth, which “endures eternally, giving constant and impenetrable concealment, no matter what spells are cast at it,” renders the wearer invisible—i.e., others can’t seethe one with the cloak. But creatures such as cats (Mrs. Norris) and snakes (Nagini), relying more on smell, hearing, heat-detection, etc., can sense the presence of cloak-wearers. Or dementors, who, though they have no sight or smell or such, can sense human despair. Invisibility cloaks don’t do nothin’ to hide desperation! Oh, and Alastor Moody’s magic eye: it can see through invisibility cloaks.

In any case, dementors and cats and snakes and Moody notwithstanding, I wouldn’t mind having an invisibility cloak.
Or you could employ a disillusionment charm or a bedazzlement hex to keep others from seeing you.

Far cry, all these, from reality, though.

But scientists are coming up with an even better idea than J. K. Rowling could: hiding an event using time!

Now granted, aforementioned author did conceive of a Time-Turner, an hourglass that could turn back time by any number of hours. But physicists at Cornell are thinking one better.

“Temporal cloaking.” Interrupting light to create a seeming gap in time in which an event can be hidden. This month’s first issue ofNature reported on the team succeeding to create a time gap about 50 trillionths of a second!

One 50 trillionths of a second. OK, far from reality!

All this trouble to “cloak” time and to hide from it. After all the trouble God went to, to “create” time.

Amidst all the controversy and confrontation and conflict regarding Genesis 1, there is something interesting there in that chapter.

All those descriptions of days and evenings and mornings.

And there was evening and there was morning, one day.
Genesis 1:5

And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.
Genesis 1:8

There was evening, and there was morning, a third day.
Genesis 1:13

There was evening, and there was morning, a fourth day.
Genesis 1:19

There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.
Genesis 1:23

And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
Genesis 1:31

By the seventh day God completed His work.
Genesis 2:2

This time-marked account reminds us that God also created time and the fundamental rhythms of life in God’s creation: evening + morning. Not only that, God created in six such “evening + morning = day” sets. In other words, God created in time.

A transcendental God immanently involved in his creation—he entered into his work, speaking, evaluating, deliberating, forming, animating. This is a God who is deeply involved with his creation.

This is no negligent watchmaker who created, and then wound up his creation and forgot all about it. No he continues to care for his creation—always, continuously, and forever.