At that point, they started to perceive themselves as meaningless fragments in an alien universe, unconnected to the Source and to each other.
Tolle, Eckhart. The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment (p. 31). New World Library. Kindle Edition.
When I read that sentence, I laughed. I have sometimes perceived myself to be an insignificant fragment. Yes, I have heard that I am constructed in the image of God but I have doubted that. I mean I am not Charles Atlas (who?) or Arnold (who?). Do I matter?
In graduate school, we read a paper by R.M. Hare, "Nothing Matters". He reports a Swiss boarder in his house who deduced that nothing really matters, while studying at the university. With various discussions and thinking, the student decided to abandon his search to catch something mattering and get on with his life. I wanted to ask him for his shoes or his tea. I thought I might latch onto something he refused to give me, which I would take to be counter-evidence, as clear evidence that something did matter.
Eckhart Tolle has some valuable ideas that have helped me. He and many others have emphasized that what is past is over and what is future is just an idea, that only what is Now, right Now, exists. It seems to me that it is a basic part of being human to have goals and desires, to plan and work to complete a plan.
Imagine the Earth devoid of human life, inhabited only by plants and animals. Would it still have a past and a future? Could we still speak of time in any meaningful way? The question "What time is it?" or "What's the date today?" — if anybody were there to ask it — would be quite meaningless. The oak tree or the eagle would be bemused by such a question. "What time?" they would ask. "Well, of course, it's now. The time is now. What else is there?"
Tolle, Eckhart. The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment (p. 34). New World Library. Kindle Edition.
I have read Yogi Berra's response to the question "What time is it?":
"You mean now?"
I have read that dogs always have the same answer to "What time is it?" "NOW!"
Yes, we humans make good use of time measures and calculations but you might want install this from Amazon:
https://smile.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=now+clock
