Blink

by Nate Benard, CMDA Atlanta Area Director

BLINK

On average the human blink lasts only a tenth of a second or 100 milliseconds.

I came across an article in Science by Maria Temming entitled, “A photon’s journey through a hydrogen molecule is the shortest event ever timed”.

From this article, I learned that the time it takes for a single particle of light to pass through a hydrogen molecule is now the shortest duration ever measured, at about 247 zeptoseconds!  (Clearly, they have never seen me consume a chili dog at the Varsity in Atlanta!)

Zeptoseconds?! What in the world?!

It turns out a zeptosecond is a trillionths of a billionth of a second! Stop and try to wrap your brain around that.  For comparison, there are as many zeptoseconds in one second as there are seconds in 2,500 times the age of the universe!  It is unfathomable to think such a unit of measure is needed and measurable.  What is even more incomprehensible is that God can watch a single particle of light pass through a hydrogen molecule in REAL-Time.

This zeptosecond intrigued me.  I struggled to imagine how small a trillionth of a billionth on anything is much less of a second!

Then it hit me!  Our life on Earth will only be a zeptosecond compared to internity with Christ.  Even if I lived to be 100 years old, that time would be infinitesimally smaller than a zeptosecond compared to eternity.  As I have gotten older, I have wondered how long I will live more often.  One thing for certain, I try to be sure my wife will outlive me.  Every time she has a kale smoothie, I eat a half-pound of bacon just for insurance.

We all see so many people, including ourselves, worrying about what tomorrow will bring as we fret about our future and linger on past events.  And for what?  A very small fraction of a blink?

Our life here does seem to go by in a blink, yet it takes a lifetime.

Our lives here are truly filled with some amazing experiences.  At times it is hard to imagine how Heaven could be much better.  Other times we experience such pain, suffering, and anguish, that it seems hard to imagine how Hell could be much worse. Through the good and the bad times, we come to see that God is in it all with us.  We spend a lifetime here glorifying God preparing to enjoy Him forever.

As Christians, we are called to glorify God by growing His Kingdom here.  We do this by sacrificing our time and resources to support His ministries.  We do this by sharing the Gospel and discipling others.  We do this by spending time in prayer and reading His Word.  We do this by worshiping with others.  We do this by giving thanks daily.

How well are you spending your BLINK here?

Photo by Kalea Jerielle on Unsplash