The "Here and Now" and the Presence of God

The "Here and Now" is where we pay attention. To pay attention means to consciously focus on one aspect of that which we are aware.

We can be aware of many things in the here and now and still not pay attention to them.

Definition: the process whereby a person concentrates on some features of the environment to the (relative) exclusion of others.

"Attention is the behavioral and cognitive process of selectively concentrating on a discrete aspect of information, whether considered subjective or objective, while ignoring other perceivable information"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attention

"Attention is the cognitive process that makes it possible to position ourselves towards relevant stimuli and consequently respond to it. This cognitive ability is very important and is an essential function in our daily lives."

https://www.cognifit.com/attention

"Attention is a complex cognitive function which is essential for human behavior. Attention is a selection process for an external (sound, image, smell...) or internal (thoughts) event which has to be maintained at a certain level of awareness. It is not a stable but rather, fluctuating skill."

http://www.happy-neuron.com/brain-and-training/attention

From all this information we begin to understand that paying attention takes conscious effort.

Two Bible verses come to mind…

Romans 8:14 All that are led by the Spirit of God, they are the children of God.

John 10:27  My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.

And this one…

Matthew 10:19 When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour.

These verses speak of the present-tense indicative verb of paying attention to the Holy Spirit in the here and now. Not just acknowledging God's presence but recognizing Him and "choosing" to pay attention and to engage in your relationship with Him.

The enemy does not want you to do that. He will use distraction by trying to get you to focus, not on the present situation I call the "Here and Now" but on the past using condemnation/hopelessness or the future using speculation/fear... Or both.

Reality does not exist in the future or in the past.

We exist and have our being in the "Here and Now". It is where we make our choices and decisions that will shape our future. Do you trust in your limited perspective and understanding in your situation, or will you choose to pay attention to the Lover of your Soul and trust in His Guidance and Counsel? "Now" is the time, and "here" is the place we create the future God wants us to have.

Philippians 3:12 (NLT) I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. 13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead.

Proverbs 3:5 (CEV) With all your heart you must trust the LORD and not your own judgment. 6 Always let him lead you, and he will clear the road for you to follow.

What is "dogma"?

Dogma is a principle or set of principles laid down by an authority as incontrovertibly true.^[1] It serves as part of the primary basis of an ideology or belief system, and it cannot be changed or discarded without affecting the very system's paradigm, or the ideology itself. They can refer to acceptable opinions of philosophers or philosophical schools, public decrees, religion, or issued decisions of political authorities.^[2]
The term derives from Greek δόγμα "that which seems to one, opinion or belief"^[3] and that from δοκέω (dokeo), "to think, to suppose, to imagine".^[4] Dogma came to signify laws or ordinances adjudged and imposed upon others by the First Century. The plural is either dogmas or dogmata, from Greek δόγματα. The term "dogmatics" is used as a synonym for systematic theology, as in Karl Barth's defining textbook of neo-orthodoxy, the 14-volume Church Dogmatics.

Jesus said “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6

Life is pointless without God. With God,... what's the point?

Life is pointless without God. I don't have a problem with that. Just read Ecclesiastes, but it falls short in telling me... With God, what's the point?

Okay, I am here in the now, where God is. I understand "now" is what exists and it is where I make all my choices and decisions. I also understand that my choices are unalterable once made. I understand that I am unable to comprehend the infinite complexity of Now and my relationship to it, here where I am.

So what's the point? With God, I have the one who is everywhere (Omnipresence) and therefore knows everything (Omniscient) that is happening. As my counselor, He Knows exactly how I should respond in any given situation I might find myself in because He is able to anticipate every possible contingency I might be faced with, in the now of my existence. So that in that very hour I will be given what to say.

So when you hear "pay attention" I pray you will be awake and not distracted.

God's Now is not limited to my "Here"

I exist in the "Here and Now". If I trust in what my 5 senses tell me I am trusting in the limited perspective my 5 senses provide.

My "Here" in the "Now" limits my acquisition of information because there is a delay between the event and my perception of the event. God doesn't have that problem. He experiences every event as it happens. He is connected to every "Here" in the "Now" without delay.

God's "Here and Now" Is where we exist. "Now" is where we reside in our uniqueness of "here"

Are we awake to His presence in our "Here"?

Are you present? I am present, Here and Now.

My inertial frame is always present in my now. My now is limited to a horizon of relationship that is restricted to what or who is present in my "here". My here and now's horizon has been expanded by technology that allows me to communicate beyond geographic locals and synchronicity becomes evident.

My now is synchronised with everyone else's now because communication extends beyond my "here" and expands my "now".

This expansion of now reveals Synchronization and is proof that the present is all that exists. You are never not present in the now! No matter where you are.

Moments in the Now!

I had a moment tonight to talk with Hudson (he's 14). He wanted to tell me about a word he had come across that started with "N". He explained if I did a search on Google for "emptiness, Wikipedia" that was where he found the word that started with "N".  I asked "you did a search for "emptiness"? He said, "I think that is why I'm lazy, I just think what's the point"?

The word he found was "Nihilism" which means life is without objective meaning. 

Hudson's favorite book of the Bible is Ecclesiastes because it expresses so much of how he feels. 

I tried to remind him that the questions he is asking are important and that God is giving him the answer. Life is pointless without God. With God, what's the point? Then Harrison came in and wanted his DS connected to the wi-fi.

After I tucked Hudson in for the night, I asked God to help me understand what Hudson was struggling with. I googled "emptiness" and began to click on search results. I came across this. A video that answers the question...

WITH GOD, WHAT IS THE POINT? 

Presentism vs Eternalism

What exists resides in the now. What exists is temporal because it is dynamic and constantly changes and the change is tensed because cause and effect produces the change.

What exists in the now creates tensed facts that are unalterable.

The change is deterministic outside of the observer's ability to choose. The ability to choose comes from the capacity to remember what things were like and the ability to anticipate what things will be like. Memory and reason.

Choice creates the potential to break the bonds of determinism.

Once the choice is made it becomes unalterable.

The now is eternal. Divide infinity in half, what do you have? Calculate how many moments eternity holds?....

The truth is always simple.

Chaos Theory, Choices, Decisions and Actions.

Who we will become is determined by our choices, decisions and actions. The choices, decisions and actions that we take in the now create facts that cannot be altered.

In chaos theory, the idea that a butterfly's wings might create tiny changes in the atmosphere that may ultimately alter the path of a tornado or delay, accelerate or even prevent the occurrence of a tornado in a certain location, reveals that even a small action has the potential for an extraordinary consequence.

The "Now" is what exists. Reality is the cosmological temporality of tensed facts that are created in the "Now". A fact cannot be altered. Change is a constant in the "Now". The illusion of time is created by this observance of change brought about by movement. The movement is deterministic outside of our ability to choose. Choice is what gives us the ability to be creative. But it is also the ability to destroy.

Who we can be is not yet determined because we still have the ability to choose. Past facts cannot be altered yet potential still exists. We can choose to tear down or to buildup. There is no other choice before us.

A conversation with my son.

As we sat on the deck, enjoying the fire we were watching in the fire pit, I asked Harrison, my son, what words he would use to describe everything that was happening in the universe at this particular moment. He seemed confused, my question held no context.

 I said look at the fire, what is happening there?

We started talking about oxidization and chemical reactions inherent in the fire. How would you describe the fire? We realized there is a lot of information generated by a fire and how to describe it accurately.

I asked him, as we watched the fire burn, what do you think is happening now to the stars in a galaxy on the other side of the universe? He said, "they are moving".

Now think about all the galaxies right now, what words would you use to describe everything that was happening in the universe at this particular moment. He said "overwhelming".

It was then I began to tap his knee. Every few seconds I would tap his knee. I said it looks like I am touching your knee repeatedly. He said yeh, you keep touching my knee over and over again. I said look at the fire, I'll touch your knee again. Was that the same as when I touched your knee earlier? Harrison said no, the fire was different. So each time I touch your knee it's different? Yes, each time you touch my knee it's unique.

I asked Harrison, "What does it mean that something is unique"? He said, "it's one of a kind." I asked him "if it's one of a kind, does that make it valuable"? We considered such...

Harrison is 11 and a half.

Every moment is unique, it will never be repeated. Its value is incomprehensible.

God's Now and ours.

"Now" is reality. "Now" is what exists. What exists is the totality of all that interacts. The interaction of Mass and Energy plays out in the now and is the physical realm.

God's "Now" is the direct experience of all tensed facts as they come to exist in the now. For God, space is of no consequence. He knows everything because He is everywhere. He is the ultimate "reference frame" for the universe.

Our "now" is limited by location and the speed at which information comes to us. This limitation of information acquisition creates a "horizon". This event horizon is established by the limit of the speed of light that creates the illusion of time flowing with past, present and anticipated future.

What can contain God? Time? No. Eternity? No. Space? No. If God is eternal, that which is in Him resides in eternity. "Now" is eternal because the now is in God.

What exists is dynamic and temporal, because God is dynamic and temporal. Our experience dynamically exists in the eternal temporality of God.

Duration is the observed rate of change in a given inertial frame. Duration is subjective to the observer. Changes in the rate of change are undetectable for an observer in a given inertial frame.

The eternal temporality exists in an uniqueness of tensed facts. These facts have causality that is determinate outside of the creative ability of life to choose. Choice can over-ride determinate causality. This choice creates the realm of "possibilities" for creative innovation.

This physical realm exists as part of the Spiritual realm. Because of the limitations of the physical realm I cannot experience the totality of all that exists in the Now.

The Illusion of Time and the "Now" of reality.

Understanding that time is an illusion brought about because of my ability to remember my observation of things when they were different, I am now able to consider "Now".

Past, present, future are words we use to make sense of the "eternal temporality" of God that we exist in. God is temporal therefore His creation is temporal. The now is what exists. It is dynamic and temporal. Dynamic in that change is constant, temporal in that the movement is tensed. Our mind is just like God's mind. The difference, He is not limited by location. God experiences temporality like we do but for Him duration is flexible because he is not limited to an inertial frame. (A day is like a thousand years...) For us duration is the observed rate of change in a given inertial frame. Duration is subjective to the observer. Variations in the rate of change are undetectable for an observer in a given inertial frame.

Without the mind's memory and reason time has no meaning.

"we experience a piece of music as a whole with the help of memory and anticipation"

Wolfhart Pannenber.      

The illusion of time helps us make sense of reality. It brings cohesion to existence and our place in the "eternal temporality" of God.