THE VISIBLE IS ONLY ITS SHADOW. 



65 



that we can read them, in a similar manner to that which 

 enables us now to handle and read those which were written 

 5,000 years ago. 



The more we study the subject of time and space the more 

 clearly we see that they are only the temporal finite modes under 

 which our senses act on the physical plane. They are temporal 

 and therefore not real, in the sense that they are not eternal; 

 the only Eeality is the Eternal Now of tim^e and Here of space. 



Let me put before you another aspect to show that time and 

 space are not realities except in the sense that they are limitations 

 to our outlook. 



The whole of the physical universe is what may be called the 

 manifestation or materialisation of the Thought or Will of God. 

 He is not subject to time limitation and that Thought must there- 

 fore have the aspect of being what we should call instantaneous. 

 It is only tho finiteness of our outlook under tmie and space 

 limitations which necessitates our looking at Creation as though 

 it were a long line of events, in sequence, extending from past 

 to future eternity. Under these conditions we appear to be in 

 a similar position to that of a being whose senses are limited to 

 one dimensional space, namely to a line. We can only gain 

 knowledge of what is in front and behind us in time, we know 

 nothing of what is to the right or left. We appear to be limited 

 to looking lengthwise in time, whereas an Omniscient and 

 Omnipresent Being looks at time, as it were, crosswise and sees 

 it as a whole. A small light, when at rest, appears as a point 

 of light, but when we apply quick motion, the product of time 

 and space, to it we get the appearance of a line of light, and 

 this continuous line formed by motion of a point is, I think, 

 analogous to the physical universe appearing to our finite senses 

 as continuous in time duration and space extension, though 

 really comprised in the Now and Here. We have a similar 

 limitation in reading a book, we can only deal with it as a long 

 line of words in succession, a long sequence of thoughts, whereas 

 the whole book is lying complete before us. 



A consideration of our limitation in space may also be useful 

 to show how impossible it is for us to see by our senses the 

 Reality or by our thoughts to know the Spiritual. Our senses 

 and thoughts are limited to a space of three dimensions, and we 

 can therefore only see or know that part of the Absolute which 

 is or can be represented to us in three dimensions. A being 

 whose senses were limited to a universe of one dimension, namely, 

 a line, could have no knowledge of another being who was in a 

 universe of two dimensions, namely, a flat surface, except so far 

 as the two-dimensional being could be represented within his line 

 of sensation. So also the two-dimensional bf^ing, on a plane, 

 could have no true knowledge of a being like ourselves in a 



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