Time&Eternity

46 chapter 1
This waiting for consummation beyond time, however, expresses a tension
between the already now and the not-yet. As a God who is hidden in the
divine unattainable eternity, God is nevertheless present in time, something
that is seen most clearly in the sacrament of the Eucharist. Here, as previously
shown, not only is the past contemporized, but the wall between time
and eternity is also momentarily penetrated. Thus, as it says in a Sanctus
hymn from 1965: “Preis ihm, der kommt in unsre Zeit” (Praise him who
comes into our time). 244 The grace of the sacrament enables human beings
to see the eternal God on earth. 245 “Er [Gott] nimmt sich für uns Zeit” (He
[God] devotes time to us). 246 It is true that the day of God is yet to come,
but because God’s eternity is already present in the hidden form of God’s
reign, “like water below the ground and like wind in the treetops,” 247 human
beings can prepare for the long-awaited arrival of that day through
their actions. 248 Therein lies a dimension of hope, 249 which distinguishes itself
from the passive longing for eternity found in many of the older hymns
in that it leads to a loving involvement in the created world. 250
These thoughts about the hidden presence of eternity in time form a
bridge to the second way of narrating, namely, the one that addresses God’s
being and actions in time from the perspective of the experience of time. Its
basic motif is expressed in the words of Klepper:
Der du die Zeit in Händen hast, Herr, .l.l.
Der Mensch, sein Tag, sein Werk vergeht:
nur du allein wirst bleiben.
Nur Gottes Jahr währt für und für,
drum kehre jeden Tag zu dir, .l.l.
Der du allein der Ewge heißt
und Anfang, Ziel und Mitte weißt
im Fluge unsrer Zeiten:
bleib du uns gnädig zugewandt .l.l. 251
The Eternal has a relation to time that, on the one hand, is directed toward
the orientation of time to eternity (kehre jeden Tag zu dir [turn toward
you every day]), and, on the other hand, also describes the turning toward
human beings in time (bleib du uns gnädig zugewandt [continue to be merciful
to us]). The latter becomes even clearer in another hymn by Klepper:
Aus seinem Glanz und Lichte
tritt er in deine Nacht:
Und alles wird zunichte,
252
was dir so bange macht.
Whenever the eternity of God and temporality collide, something happens:
The future is opened up, 253 God is eternal and present, 254 God the Fa-