The Present

Gustav Schenk in his book containing images of a single drop of water Schöpfung aus dem Wassertropfen (Berlin 1954) conceptualized that you can study the universe by analyzing a single drop of water. The relation between both not being in the realm of space, but both sharing the same realm in time.

Today in a conference I heard a very interesting speach where Dr. Rebecca Coleman discussed how the future can insert itself in the present (theory of anticipation and pre-emption) robbing us of living the now, of being present in the present. The ultimtely necessity of understanding a way to map time. A search similar to how Herschel introduced the necessity of having a day to live in his book “Sabbath: An architecture of Time”.

Technical civilization is man’s conquest of space. It is a triumph frequently achieved by sacrificing an essential ingredient of existence, namely, time. In technical civilization, we expend time to gain space. To enhance our power in the world of space is our main objective. Yet to have more does not mean to be more. The power we attain in the world of space terminates abruptly at the borderline of time. But time is the heart of existence

To gain control of the world of space is certainly one of our tasks. The danger begins when in gaining power in the realm of space we forfeit all aspirations in the realm of time. There is a realm of time where the goal is not to have but to be, not to own but to give, not to control but to share, not to subdue but to be in accord. Life goes wrong when the control of space, the acquisition of things of space, becomes our sole concern.

Heschel, 2005

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