How to Inhabit Time (James K. A. Smith) - A Review
HOW TO INHABIT TIME: Understanding the Past, Facing the Future, Living Faithfully Now. By James K. A. Smith. Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos Press, 2022. Xv + 189 pages.
We can argue about whether God exists
outside time or not, but when it comes to us, we inhabit time. We have
experienced the past, at least our own past. We know that there is a future
ahead of us, even if we don't know what it will entail. We may have our expectations
and plans, but until they become our present experience things can change. So,
with past and future framing our life experience, the question we face concerns
how we might live faithfully in the present. As one who is trained as a
historical theologian, I have a great appreciation for what has already
transpired, for good or for bad. That past helps form the present. It also
helps form the possibilities that lie ahead of us. In other words, history has
great value because we are all part of the historical process.
When it comes to understanding the
nature of time, James K. A. Smith's book How to Inhabit Time is not only
thought-provoking but clarifying. Smith, who teaches philosophy at Calvin University,
speaks of time being a "spiritual adventure" (p. xiii). If it is an adventure,
how do we experience it? Smith brings to this question his scholarly acumen as
a philosopher. Smith has written about Augustine (On the Road with Saint Augustine), and that experience with Augustine informs this conversation.
He is also a Reformed theologian, and that orientation is present in the book.
His Reformed background and interest in Augustine might be problematic for
some, but in the course of reading his books over the years, I have found him
to be fair and open to different possibilities when it comes to the way we
understand and experience God. In other words, this is not a hyper-Calvinist
tract. To put it differently, although I believe that the future remains open (in
my view God does not predetermine the future), I did not feel as if he wrote
anything here that would shut down that conversation. That is because Smith
invites us as readers to reflect and contemplate what it means to live in time.
While the book is rooted in scholarship it is offered to a broad audience,
which is fitting for a book under the Brazos imprint.
Smith seeks to address what he
perceives to be a temporal disorientation present within Christianity. In his
view, we seem unable to keep time, and thus we live in a temporal fog. He notes
that "too many contemporary Christians look at history and see only a
barren, textureless landscape." We seem unable to "appreciate the
nuances and dynamics of history." Thus, we can't discern the
"when" of our existence. As a result, we don't understand how the
past influences and impacts both the present and the future (p. 5). That
affects the way we read Scripture and live our lives as Christians. As an
example, he points to the way some white Americans can't discern why "All
Lives Matter" is an inappropriate response to "Black Lives
Matter." Thus, the ideal— "all lives matter" —doesn't take into account
the reality present in the declaration that Black Lives Matter. Thus, this book
is a call to address our distorted spiritual timekeeping by recognizing our
embeddedness in history. Just to be clear, despite the title, this isn't a book
about time management!
Having established the importance
of spiritual timekeeping in the introduction, Smith begins exploring the
reality of being embedded in history. The first chapter reminds us that we are
"Creatures of Time." We live in time. Our existence is contingent.
That is, what is might not have been, and what is could be otherwise. He writes
that "history is the zig and zag of choices and events that both open and
close possibilities" (p. 31). In other words, we can't go back to the
past. The past has already been written, and the choices made in the past
affect the possibilities going forward. So, we move forward into time, with the
Spirit present with us. We move on in chapter 2 to "A History of the Human
Heart," Smith speaks more fully about the nature of potentiality. He notes
that the possibilities available in the future are not infinite. Again, the
past and present influence the potentialities of the future. Regarding the
past, he speaks of grace overcoming what has happened but not erasing it or
undoing it. He writes that "to be human is to be the product of a history
that should have been otherwise: that's what it means to live in a world
off-kilter due to sin and evil. " That history is who I am. (p. 67).
In "The Sacred folds of Kairos"
(chapter 3), Smith speaks to the reality of the present, where history and
eternity intersect. In this chapter, he draws on Kierkegaard and speaks of what
it means to be a follower of God. It is not enough to be present with Jesus in
his own time and place; the question for us is how we follow Jesus in the present
moment. He reminds us that time is not merely a straight line, but in terms of kairos,
it "bends and curves around the incarnate Christ like a temporal center of
gravity." This reality is reflected in the nature of the liturgical
calendar (p. 85). Moving on to chapter 4, he speaks about embracing the
ephemeral or loving what we'll lose. In this chapter, Smith writes that
"Christian timekeeping is like a dance on a tightrope: on the one hand, we
are called to inhabit time in a way that stretches us, to be aware of so much
more than now." Here he speaks of living “futurally” so that we remain aware
of our inheritances. On the other hand, he reminds us that "we always live
in the present" (p. 100). The question for us is how we live in the
present as the nexus of the past and the future. Here is a reminder that we
live with the ephemeral, that which fades away with time. As Ecclesiastes
suggests, all is vanity. Everything that exists is impermanent so time inevitably
involves change.
In chapter 5 we learn that we inhabit
the now as we encounter the "Seasons of the Heart." As Ecclesiastes
reminds us, there is a time for everything. There are seasons of inevitability
and seasons that involve choices. In our journey, this reality of changing
seasons requires discernment. That is, discernment involves recognizing our
seasonal location. Discernment involves prayerful listening while we live in
the midst of things. Smith suggests that if we wish to transcend time then we
should develop multi-generational friendships. Here he notes that "there
are patterns of a human life that, despite our claims to utter uniqueness, are
in fact repeated and shared" (p. 134). When it comes to our relationship
with God, though God might be eternal we are seasonal. In other words, our relationship
with God is marked by seasonality. We experience God differently in different
moments.
The Christian life is a spiritual
adventure that involves different seasons. We may be moving toward the future,
but Smith suggests we shouldn't live ahead of time (chapter 6). We should not
get ahead of ourselves. We can imagine many things, but it is experience that
tells us what is possible. These are the constraints of our creaturehood. Here
he reflects on eschatological matters, and more pointedly on what he calls
"practical eschatology.” Because we as Christians are futural people, we
pray for the coming of God's kingdom. But even as we pray for it to come, we
know that it has yet to come. That means we are a "waiting people."
So, we should not rush the kingdom. So, "living eschatologically is not so
much a matter of knowing the end as knowing when we are now. An eschatological
orientation isn't only about a future expectation but also a recalibration of
our present" (p. 148-149). That doesn't mean we wait passively or
"fetishize an atemporal eternity" (p. 149). In other words, we should
not neglect the present by expecting the future. Thus, "eschatology is
about how we live in the now, and that 'we' is as wide as humanity, even if
we're not all keeping time in the same way" (p. 155). Thus, eschatology is
political. It is also a call to live without hubris.
As I read Smith’s How to Inhabit Time, I found it to be a very helpful reflection on the nature of time. As
I pointed out at the beginning of the review, the issue here is not whether God
exists within or outside time. The issue is how we experience time. I often hear
people talking about living in the present as if the past and future do not
affect present reality. Smith reminds us that the choices made in the past have
implications for how we experience the present. The choices we make in the
present influence the future, which has political implications. In other words,
history is more than an interesting avocation for those who enjoy watching the History
Channel. The past and the present will influence what the future looks like,
whether we like it or not! The good news, offered by Smith in How to Inhabit
Time is divine grace allows us to overcome the realities of the past even
if we can't erase that past. In other words, the good news is that God makes
all things new.
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