Tangent to Outer Space: God and TIme

I was on Twitter today and saw a tweet that I found very interesting. You may know this person, maybe even in real life unlike me who only knows her online, and she said this: "Prayer is effective only on the day of..." She was referring to something specific but it's not relevant to the point so I left it out.

It got me thinking though; I don't think I believe that. I'm not criticizing her or saying, "She's so stupid, she's wrong." It was truly one of those moments where your mind just goes off on a big ole tangent into outer space. I started thinking about God and time.
Kairos is a Greek word that means "the appointed time in the purpose of God." I have some dear friends, an Anglican bishop and his wife, who always talk about kairos and God's time. Not just His timing but time as it exists in heaven. See, on earth we have a linear view of time or chronos (from which we get the words chronological and chronology). No, this is not a Greek lesson but I think it's important to see the difference in our understanding of time and God's.

For us, Christ died on the cross more than 2,000 years ago but that's our measure of time. Those constraints, and let's all admit that time is a constraint most of the time, do not pertain to God because He's God and above time (in Kairos). Chronological events are before God at the foot of His throne at all times. That's another amazing thing about Christ's sacrifice on the cross, it is as present as "current" to God today to cover my sins as it was 2,000 years ago to cover the sins of Christ's contemporaries. It is always before Him and not bound by our linear view of time. Wow, crazy.

I once had a physicist--well, I don't know if she was a physicist but a math and science person anyway, explain this principle to me. She said that it's like a person on a train understands that they are moving from point A to point B in a linear motion. Then that train passes another train going the opposite way and it's hard to tell which way you're moving, it's completely disorienting. The planets are actually moving in a similar but much more complex manner. You have one planet rotating this way and moving in this orbit but this other planet rotates that way and has this other path to orbit in (this makes a lot more sense when you see the hand motions but just imagine). So you have all these planets rotating and orbiting in this beautifully complex movement and God designed them that way. Pretty cool. But she said that this is more how God views time, in these complex orbits rather than linearly. Did I totally lose you? It sounds really out there and crazy but let me give you a more concrete example.

My parents are newly converted Eastern Orthodox but we have friends that have been Orthodox for many years so I've grown up being exposed to their traditions, beliefs and culture. They have a service that I'll admit I don't know a lot about and haven't actually been to so all my Orthodox friends feel free to jump in here. This service or part of a service is held after the death of a loved one. What is interesting is that they pray for their life, the decisions they made and ask God to intercede for them. This seems odd to us linear people because being bound by the chronology of time, those decisions and actions have already been made right? Not necessarily in kairos. My understanding is that they believe those prayers are before God, above linear time, even as their loved one was alive on earth and that prayer offered after their death is heard by the same ear as those offered during their lifetime. Does that blow your mind?

Maybe that doesn't fascinate and wow you like it does me but I think it's amazing and just reminds me in so many ways how amazing God is. He is the Alpha and Omega, beginning and the end. As Christians, we believe in eternal life and so one end is actually another beginning.

This was kind of an experimental mind flow that might have been really out there but I'd love some feedback. What do you think about this concept of God and time?

What about God really amazes and wows you?