Image by Markus Kammermann from Pixabay

Late in Time

Growing up, I was confused by the references that Jesus Christ was born late in human history. From my perspective, 2,000 years ago seemed like a very long time ago! Honestly, 2,000 years ago still seems like an incompressible amount of time, and the people who lived during the Roman Empire seem impossibly remote. As a child, I didn’t know about the span of years represented in the archaeological record. Stonehenge was built about 5,000 years ago, meaning that it was already 3,000 years old when Jesus was born. The Pyramids of Giza were built about 4,600 years ago, so they are almost as ancient. In the story of the Holy Family’s flight to Egypt, the Pyramids at Giza would have been further back in time than the birth of Christ is to us! To go back even further, farming was first developed in the Neolithic era about 10,000 years ago, and the first Homo sapiens walked the earth at least 250,000 years ago. Within this framework, Jesus Christ was born not only late in the history of the universe (13.7 billion years) but late in human history.

Sometimes there is a time limit on discerning, whether because of an age cutoff, a deadline for application, or some other constraint, but often the process takes time. I have talked to several discerners who were anxious about making a decision right away, even though they needed time to sort through their priorities and to listen to God’s voice. My advice is: slow down, be patient, wait for God to show up. This sounds much like the wisdom we get during the Season of Advent! But the gift of knowing that God arrives late in time is the promise that God will show up for us, even if God doesn’t come when we expect.

Blessings,

Sister Katherine