Time can look linear for us, but not for God. Living in the Western half of the globe, I grew up assuming that time flows forward from past to present to future. But especially in the past five years or so, I’ve immersed myself in time as a circle—the continuous circle of the ancient Christian seasons.

As I wrote books about these worship seasons, 1 I noted that each time we move through the seasons we are different, and our experience of God’s presence can mature. So the circle becomes a spiral, adding depth to our lives and strength to our trust in the Creator.

I have encouraged myself and others to perceive time in this way. This Christian view of time is one experience amongst several world religions that envision time as a circle, spiral, or wheel. 2

But in recent weeks I’ve come to a second understanding of time. A recent Christian Century article, called “Stretched between life’s verses,” 3 says living through time is like singing a song. When we sing, in each minute we stretch between the past (recalling the song’s words), through the present (as we do the singing), and into the future (anticipating the verses yet to come). Although this metaphor for time comes from the fourth-century Christian theologian St. Augustine, 4 it was new to me.

I find this stretched-song metaphor fascinating. It is like floating on a current of time which flows with each hour, our past adding significance to the Now and building richness toward the future. But simultaneously, all my times—all our times as creatures in this universe—are held within God’s hand, grasped within the life and love of God.

Writers across the centuries who are recorded in the Bible have tried to express this mysterious relationship between God and time. So this is a third way of comprehending the paradox of time. Psalm 90:4 says a thousand years in God’s sight are like yesterday when it is past, or like a single night watch. Second Peter 3:8 says that with the Lord, one day is like a thousand years, and simultaneously a thousand years are like one day. In Isaiah 51:15, God encloses time and creation by saying, “I have put my words in your mouth and hidden you in the shadow of My hand, stretching out the heavens and laying the foundations of the earth.” Also the entire Gospel of John uses the Greek word kairos for “God’s time” whenever God acts directly in people’s lives, interlacing with their chronological days.

Right now, millions of Christians around the world are singing Advent songs and Christmas carols in these beginning weeks of the New Year. We can rejoice in the mystery and gift of time itself as a song that sings through us, gathered in each moment within the hands of God.

Your partner in faith,

Betsy Schwarzentraub

1 – Betsy Schwarzentraub, Tossed in Time: Steering by the Christian Seasons (2021) and Tossed in Time Expanded Edition: Steering by the Christian Seasons (2023). The drawing of Mary and Elizabeth singing for joy is by Frank Nissen, graphic artist, printed in the expanded edition. Used by permission.

2 – Religions that view time primarily as a circle include Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism.

3 – Brian Bantum, “Stretched between life’s verses,” Christian Century, Dec. 2024, 32-33. Bantum is an author and professor of theology at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Illinois.

4 – Augustine was Bishop of Hippo in North Africa (354-439 CE). He was a theologian and philosopher, primarily influenced by Aristotle, Plato, St. Paul of the Bible, and his mentor Ambrose.