"A CONCEPT OF TIME"
                            By Debbie McCracken (Thurmont)

  The thought of time is fascinating to me. I wonder if time is truly another dimension or simply a concept of measurement developed by man to document his activities. Man has measured time in many ways: the slow steady drips of the water clocks, the steady pull of gravity grabbing each grain of sand through the slender funnel of an hour glass, or the length of eerie shadows cast from the sun shining on two pieces of stone.

  Man has made time expensive when he developed the Rolex watch and children made time priceless by their endless play and joy they give. Doctors can give the gift of more time while other men like murderers can steal the precious gift away. My fascination with time is the, "time and space" relationship and how it can potentially affect us. I believe that at one given moment in time, a person is surrounded by the past, present and future.

  I start my "time and space" journey effortlessly. I walk outside into my backyard on a crystal clear winter evening. I look up to the star filled sky and mentally start to absorb the panoramic view around me. My eyes fixate on the Orion-constellation that seems to dominate the winter's sky. I notice the red-super giant, Betelgeuse that marks Orion’s right shoulder.

  I remember reading from the "National Geographic Picture Atlas of our Universe", that Betelgeuse is estimated to be 520 light years away. That means the sparkling light I see radiating from this star tonight is about 10 years before Columbus set sail for America. I ponder on this "time and space" relationship for a moment to think about all the changes this country and the world have been through during the time it took the Betelgeuse's light to catch my eye tonight. What did man learn about himself and what was his impact to the world around him during this span of time?

  My eyes shift to a heavenly body that is closer to earth. The planet named after the King of Roman Gods, Jupiter. This planet is a close celestial neighbor at the distance of 40-minutes in light years away. I realize again, I’m presently looking back in time. My mind rushes to remember what happened 40-minutes ago, as I feverishly try to re-live the past. What was I doing? Is it that important for me to try and capture those past moments by sifting through my now fragmented memory? I tried to re-live my recent past.

  I awaken from my time travel to the recent past by the cold sting of the winter wind blowing on my face. I suddenly discovered the closer to myself I look, the closer I get to present time. I look down at the palms of my hands and notice a slight trembling and feel my head starting to bulge from what appeared to be hundreds of cotton balls exploding.

  I was to become frightened from the hours I wasted away, worrying about what people thought or if I looked professional enough for my work presentation earlier today. I thought if I could do this day over again would I change anything? Yes, I would. I notice in awe, how my interpretation of the day’s events affected my physical self and I was eager to continue my ‘time and space’ journey.

  I closed my blue eyes and focused my journey to my inner eye and looked deep within my heart. I saw that time had no beginning or end there. My closed eyes started to sting from tears and I felt them slowly trickle down my face. The tears were not from the cold winter evening but from raw emotion still so vivid and new. "Mother, it hurts so bad, please do not leave me alone", as the child inside me wept.

  Time stands still in the heart. I know this to be true, because I am missing my mother now as much as I did at 13, when she passed. The journey in my heart continued and I was again re-acquainted with the child within me. My emotion turns to wonderment and awe as I realized this strong child has kept me young and resilient throughout the growing pains of life.

  My new found energy allowed me to look even deeper into my inner most soul and I found my future deep inside me. A personal truth came apparent to me at that moment. I realized that I had the power to make a positive impact in my own small world by continuing to express the feeling of warmth, wonderment and love treasured by the child in my heart. I took great comfort with the thought that this love would continue to blossom and touch another person some day in the future.

  This is why I share a concept of time.

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