Obviously, the Garden of Eden was perfect, without blemish. This much is ubiquitously understood. In terms of chronology, what we can extrapolate from the idea of perfection? Heaven, we know, is eternal, whereas Earth will 'wither away'. It would seem, then, that perhaps in the Garden of Eden there was no such thing as linear time. Why would there be?
Sin disrupted our link with God, and hence, with his dimension of existence. For this reason, Adam and Eve walked and talked with God as similiar beings, not as earth-dwellers hopefully sending an email to an unknown recipient in a galaxy far far away, as our relationship with God is often portrayed. We are earth-dwellers. However, we are not earthlings. We are 'extra-terrestrials', and when we pray, we are 'calling home'.
My point is simply this: when we enter into the Kingdom of God, which thanks to Jesus Christ is fully accessible to us even as imperfect beings, we enter into his dimension of chronology. God is the Great 'I AM'. He is the beginning and the end, the Alpha and the Omega. How can he be in two places at the same time? Because in God's world, there is no difference between past, present, future.
Predestination and its concomittant paradoxes and dilemmas are hence nullified. Linear time is the result of imperfection, and the frustrations that are produced when our conception of time coincides with that of God are due to the divergence between perfection and imperfection.
In terms of prayer, it is worthwhile to reflect on the fact that the Lord's Prayer includes 'your Kingdom come, your will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven'. If we enter into a holistic view of time, our incentive for love, and our disincentive for fear, are both amplified. What have we to fear if we are pre-ordained? How much more have we to gain if life is eternal, by loving rather than storing up treasures on Earth?
For this reason, ET must keep phoning home. We have to stay in touch with our roots.
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