AFRICANS' CONCEPTION OF TIME
Years ago, in the 1990s, I preached my first sermon at our family's home-church, St. Matthews C.M. E. Meacham Park, Kirkwood, Missouri.
My subject was HOW MUCH TIME DO WE HAVE? My text was from Eccl. 3:1-8: "There is time and a place for everything and a season to every activity under the sky...a time to live and a time to die...."
https://www.google.com/…/%3fsearch=Ecclesiastes+3:1-8&versi…
My sermonic subject had been inspired by my abridged version of the theological classic, CITY OF GOD, by St. Augustine of Hippo Regius, Algeria, North Africa.
Therein, he had reduced each unit of time down to nothing to show that we actually did not "have" any time; but what we call 'time' is the beneficent grace of Almighty God.
The father of theology, Augustine, related an example that I used and adapted to current conditions, viz:
Let us assume that we have 33 more years to live. This is 2018. We have what we have now. Examining 2018, we see that this is June . So, if we have nothing more 1 month, June, in which to live. However, examining June, we live in just 1 week of June right now, since the rest has not arrived . We have just one day of that week; and have, right now, only one hour of that day . But any hour has 60 minutes, with 60 seconds, only one second of which can we occupy right now , or at any one time. That one second just passed away! So how much time do we really have now?
None! What we call "time" is grace!
Needless to say that sermon was well-received, long-remembered!
My absorbent reading of an article by Dr. Dorothy L. Pennington revived my recollection of that earlier sermon about time, already mentioned. Her article, "Time in African Culture," appears in AFRICAN CULTURE THE RHYTHMS OF UNITY (1990) by Molefe Kete Asante and Kariamu Welsh Asante.
Certain of her passages, quoted below have brought clarity to me and/or have teleologically challenged me cosmologically by broadening deepening my concept of time . She writes :
"One may ask, for example, do the religious doctrines of a culture teach that the soul extends its existence infinitely into the future or do they teach that the soul does not extend beyond the present? And likewise, is the ego seen as extending into the future, following a unilinear progression, or does the ego refer to its past for completion ? The philosophy of the soul and ego-extension determines the attitudes of a culture in terms of its having a past, present or futuristic orientation. Those with a futuristic ego-extension tend to emphasize youth and planning for an abstract 'tomorrow ', thus reckoning time in isolation of other events. On the other hand, those whose egos extend into the past for a sense of completion emphasize the importance of ancestors or those of the past who are believed to give meaning to one's present existence. This view may be likened unto a helix in which, while there is a sense of movement, the helix at the same time, turns back upon itself and depends upon the past from which it springs to guide and determine its nature; the past is an indispensable part of the present which participates in it, enlightens it, and gives it meaning.
"In a related sense, one may ask, what is a group's perception of its existence in terms of linearity and circularity . How is this symbolized?..,
"Because of the complexities involved in the concept and use of time, caution must be urged to avoid simplistically dichotomizing time -binding in existence as being either circular or linear , for there are indications that humans may function in several dimensions simultaneously. Thinking, therefore, rushes 'back and forth in time. The future goal we want to reach directs our course right now while at the same time, unconscious ancient patterns are acted out .' Meerloo discusses a 'dual temporal determinism ' of both conscious and unconscious intentions, pointing to a complicated relationship .' Furthermore, time is not completely unilinear, but four-dimensional, wherein everyone lives along his or her own subjective time dimension (individual growth) which interacts with and intersects the three other dimensions of past, present, and future.
"Although there are variations among individuals and a consciousness of time precipitated by an awareness of constantly changing events (day and night, seasonal variations, physiological changes , the interactions of the dimensions ), authorities agree that culture greatly influences time-binding."
P.125-127
Focusing now on Africa, after the generalizations Pennington writes:
"Because religion and the belief in God as the Supreme Being permeates all aspects of African life, the African view of existence in time is rooted in their conception of God as immortal. He is described as an external, infinite, and immutable spirit who endures forever and ever . His external nature is believed to make him impervious to change. Just as the lives of African people are anchored in the past, God is seen as being in and beyond the past. Just as God is believed to exist externally, humans are also seen as sharing this immortality, for 'without exception, African peoples believe that death does not annihilate life and that the departed continue to exist in the hereafter.' (As pointed out earlier, both the living and the deceased can have the life force.) Once persons have departed this life they become what is referred to as the 'living dead ' which means their spirits live on, often returning in reincarnated and transmigrated forms....
Because of the facility with which African beliefs in resurrection, reincarnation, and transmigration can be construed as correlating to a belief in the future, Mbiti hastens to arrest this propensity....
"'As far as the evidence goes, African peoples do not expect any form of individual or collective resurrection after death. Man has neither the hope nor the promise to rise again; he lost that gift in the primeval period.'
"Therefore the apparently irreconcilable paradox is best accommodated by stating that, though African peoples believe in reincarnation, and transmigration of the departed, immortality is placed in the perspective of the past, rather than in the future. As Mbiti indicates, all African myths (of creation, the first humans, the coming of death , the birth of nations, etc.) look toward the past; there are no myths about the future. Likewise, the idea of the soul or the ego extending infinitely does not seem to be a real one for African peoples . While their concept of time can be described as helical , the emphasis of the helix lies heavily on the past."
P. 131-132.
Wednesday, June 6, 2018
AFRICANS' CONCEPT OF TIME
AFRICANS' CONCEPTION OF TIME
Years ago, in the 1990s, I preached my first sermon at our family's home-church, St. Matthews C.M. E. Meacham Park, Kirkwood, Missouri.
My subject was HOW MUCH TIME DO WE HAVE? My text was from Eccl. 3:1-8: "There is time and a place for everything and a season to every activity under the sky...a time to live and a time to die...."
https://www.google.com/…/%3fsearch=Ecclesiastes+3:1-8&versi…
My sermonic subject had been inspired by my abridged version of the theological classic, CITY OF GOD, by St. Augustine of Hippo Regius, Algeria, North Africa.
Therein, he had reduced each unit of time down to nothing to show that we actually did not "have" any time; but what we call 'time' is the beneficent grace of Almighty God.
The father of theology, Augustine, related an example that I used and adapted to current conditions, viz:
Let us assume that we have 33 more years to live. This is 2018. We have what we have now. Examining 2018, we see that this is June . So, if we have nothing more 1 month, June, in which to live. However, examining June, we live in just 1 week of June right now, since the rest has not arrived . We have just one day of that week; and have, right now, only one hour of that day . But any hour has 60 minutes, with 60 seconds, only one second of which can we occupy right now , or at any one time. That one second just passed away! So how much time do we really have now?
None! What we call "time" is grace!
Needless to say that sermon was well-received, long-remembered!
My absorbent reading of an article by Dr. Dorothy L. Pennington revived my recollection of that earlier sermon about time, already mentioned. Her article, "Time in African Culture," appears in AFRICAN CULTURE THE RHYTHMS OF UNITY (1990) by Molefe Kete Asante and Kariamu Welsh Asante.
Certain of her passages, quoted below have brought clarity to me and/or have teleologically challenged me cosmologically by broadening deepening my concept of time . She writes :
"One may ask, for example, do the religious doctrines of a culture teach that the soul extends its existence infinitely into the future or do they teach that the soul does not extend beyond the present? And likewise, is the ego seen as extending into the future, following a unilinear progression, or does the ego refer to its past for completion ? The philosophy of the soul and ego-extension determines the attitudes of a culture in terms of its having a past, present or futuristic orientation. Those with a futuristic ego-extension tend to emphasize youth and planning for an abstract 'tomorrow ', thus reckoning time in isolation of other events. On the other hand, those whose egos extend into the past for a sense of completion emphasize the importance of ancestors or those of the past who are believed to give meaning to one's present existence. This view may be likened unto a helix in which, while there is a sense of movement, the helix at the same time, turns back upon itself and depends upon the past from which it springs to guide and determine its nature; the past is an indispensable part of the present which participates in it, enlightens it, and gives it meaning.
"In a related sense, one may ask, what is a group's perception of its existence in terms of linearity and circularity . How is this symbolized?..,
"Because of the complexities involved in the concept and use of time, caution must be urged to avoid simplistically dichotomizing time -binding in existence as being either circular or linear , for there are indications that humans may function in several dimensions simultaneously. Thinking, therefore, rushes 'back and forth in time. The future goal we want to reach directs our course right now while at the same time, unconscious ancient patterns are acted out .' Meerloo discusses a 'dual temporal determinism ' of both conscious and unconscious intentions, pointing to a complicated relationship .' Furthermore, time is not completely unilinear, but four-dimensional, wherein everyone lives along his or her own subjective time dimension (individual growth) which interacts with and intersects the three other dimensions of past, present, and future.
"Although there are variations among individuals and a consciousness of time precipitated by an awareness of constantly changing events (day and night, seasonal variations, physiological changes , the interactions of the dimensions ), authorities agree that culture greatly influences time-binding."
P.125-127
Focusing now on Africa, after the generalizations Pennington writes:
"Because religion and the belief in God as the Supreme Being permeates all aspects of African life, the African view of existence in time is rooted in their conception of God as immortal. He is described as an external, infinite, and immutable spirit who endures forever and ever . His external nature is believed to make him impervious to change. Just as the lives of African people are anchored in the past, God is seen as being in and beyond the past. Just as God is believed to exist externally, humans are also seen as sharing this immortality, for 'without exception, African peoples believe that death does not annihilate life and that the departed continue to exist in the hereafter.' (As pointed out earlier, both the living and the deceased can have the life force.) Once persons have departed this life they become what is referred to as the 'living dead ' which means their spirits live on, often returning in reincarnated and transmigrated forms....
Because of the facility with which African beliefs in resurrection, reincarnation, and transmigration can be construed as correlating to a belief in the future, Mbiti hastens to arrest this propensity....
"'As far as the evidence goes, African peoples do not expect any form of individual or collective resurrection after death. Man has neither the hope nor the promise to rise again; he lost that gift in the primeval period.'
"Therefore the apparently irreconcilable paradox is best accommodated by stating that, though African peoples believe in reincarnation, and transmigration of the departed, immortality is placed in the perspective of the past, rather than in the future. As Mbiti indicates, all African myths (of creation, the first humans, the coming of death , the birth of nations, etc.) look toward the past; there are no myths about the future. Likewise, the idea of the soul or the ego extending infinitely does not seem to be a real one for African peoples . While their concept of time can be described as helical , the emphasis of the helix lies heavily on the past."
P. 131-132.
