Untimely

For the time being, it is of the essence to make time with.

Let us have the time of our lives, our joint lives, joined. For in no time at all, we will be on time for the demise of this time frame. In the nick of time, time will tell.

But time itself is not of the essence.

Einstein himself indicated that the only reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen at once.

Once upon a time, they say, in the time of Newton, time was a continuous flow all over the universe.

But since the end of the 19th century we have realized that the rate of time flow changes, influenced by relative motion between observers or by the strength of gravitational fields. We have found kairos, qualitative time, and we, with Blake, easily hold eternity in an hour.

Chronos, the simple view of time as quantifiable sequence, even with the helpful press of pragmatic necessity, has run out of time in its bid for being timely. There are and have been myriad time keeping systems that create different date names for each day. Days are merely ostensibly identified within weeks, within months, within years. Chronos imputes synchronization with periodic stellar phenomena or historic events. Many calendar systems name a moment in many ways. And even this evolves in time. Thailand did not accept Jan. 1 as the beginning of a new year until 1941.

Even more amazing was the single handed move of the International Date Line by the Pacific island country of Kiribati. Before 1995, parts of this small island nation of 30-plus atolls lived in one date while in other parts that date was already yesterday. So in an amazing temporal gerrymander move, the IDL was imputed eastward. The nation gained an additional benefit in 2000. With this timeframe alteration, the first moment of the new millennium happened in their uninhabited Caroline Island. Since a timely renaming, this island is now called Millennium Island.

We will probably continue to wonder if the first moment of 2010 will happen there, or in a tiny Antarctic space-time location far south of Millennium. In that land of eternal sun, however, there is no real definable dawning in the 24- hour daylight.

It begins to dawn on me in good time that this imputed construct, this non-spatial continuum of events that ostensibly occurs in irreversible succession from past through present to future, time after time, is merely in the world of once upon a time. It is a fiction, though a compelling one. It is high time we see this.

After all, piracy is chronophobic. Pirates have no desire to separate events that occur in the same physical location. For pirates, there is no time like the present.

It is rumored that approaching on the wings of time is Kalki, the last avatar, Gotterdammerung bringer. This may be good news for some who see the currency of the current as the degenerate Kali Yuga, a dark age in which people are far from divinity.

Not all agree that we are in Kali Yuga. So you are able to ponder this timely question, here are some signs of the time: Taxes will be unfairly levied. Rulers will be dangerous, not protective of their people. People will be forced to migrate to find food. There will be open displays of animosity between humans. There will be much addiction and daily life stress. It is also said that there will be a time period within the Kali Yuga of heightened devotion to the divine.

As the world turns, as the ball drops, perhaps this pirate will sleep, simple and child-like. As I learned in a land long ago and far away, in the ABC of time B comes before A and that’s all there is. Here, here: Now, there. But just may be: Be still. Realize the timeless, untimely possible unfolding enfolding. In this timeless embrace, this unending, la petite mort, the I is doing time. Upon a time, time on and in my hands, behind time, in time, out of time: Ah, in good time, my little pretty. ¦

— Rx is the Florida Weekly muse who hopes to inspire profound mutiny in all those who care to read. Our Rx may be wearing a pirate cloak of invisibility, but emanating from within this shadow is hope that readers will feel free to respond. Who knows: You may even inspire the muse. Make contact if you dare.