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Viewpoint from Dr David Watson 09/09/2022
 Dr David Watson
Retired GP
Authorised Worship Assistant, St Andrew’s Church
Time after Time
When I was a boy, camping in Cornwall, I lay on the grass and looked up at a myriad of stars and wondered
What if I was on one of those stars, say 10 light years away, I would be seeing what happened then as if it were now. That took me into a zone of timelessness. Amazing, and recently I heard Prof. Brian Cox referring to a potential lack of time in black holes
 We talk of history repeating itself and if we can see the past as if it is now we see the atrocities of mankind as overwhelming – Nazi Germany, the breakup of Yugoslavia, genocide in Rwanda, tyrannical regimes, and “now” Russia in Ukraine. We see that mankind has a built in capacity for inhumanity towards fellow man, young, previously normal citizens turned into soldiers who loot, rape, murder, and pillage
On an individual scale people cannot and must not be allowed to forget their past and what that has done to victims of abuse – Rolf Harris and Jimmy Saville, Sutcliffe, Shipman Epstein, et al
Humanity has a built in conscience and with it a capacity of forgiveness but for some things which remain fresh in the mind recrimination and judgement are the order of the day
The Bible tells us that “with God a day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as a day”. God’s zone is timeless and outside of its restrictions. Not only does God see the past as now but the future too. Imagine His distress at our activities, whatever the scale of bad
 Although Jesus was crucified 2,000 years ago that sacrificial death is as relevant now as it was then. His death enabled God to fully punish the transgressions of individuals, condemning our wrongdoings - what the Bible refers to as sin, but redeeming the condemned person who accepts the vicarious nature of Jesus’ punishment
Christians recognise the personal gift of God’s forgiveness and God’s ability to change lives while recognising that aspect of humanity which causes such devastation and harm. It will be dealt with in due time, but how we wish that that would be now
While we have time, we must each endeavour to do our bit to make our world a better place. Apologise and seek forgiveness for our own transgressions whether great or small
Time will tell how we are remembered!
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