Time

St. Augustine said that when he did not think about time, he understood it , but, when he thought about it, he realized that he did not understand it. Einstein called time 'a stubbornly persistent illusion.' There is certainly a problem when it comes to this concept.

Many cultures view time as cyclical, to the point of almost discounting linear time.  Western Civilization reverses that, linear time becoming all important. Then, I suppose, you can turn to the Buddhists and the various esoteric/gnostic forms of Christianity which almost view time as simply unimportant.

All 3 are true and I believe that we need to develop a kind of thinking in which ideas are not conflicting, but complimentary. Modern science views space and time, not as separate, but as a unity, space-time, and it would be useful to learn to view time as cyclical, linear and not overly important, all at the same time. It would certainly stretch the mind a bit, but that is a healthy thing. Then, we need to place all of this against a backdrop of Eternity, which is outside all concepts of time.

Think a bit about that backdrop, Eternity, and you realize that words have their limit. To say 'eternal' or 'infinite' has no real meaning to the human mind, it is just a way of speaking about the unspeakable. Get used to that idea and you begin to see that any words we use to describe time are woefully inadequate. Then, it becomes easy to hold 3 different views of time in your mind at the same time without feeling conflicted.

Play with those ideas and you begin to see that words are never enough to convey the essence of anything. They are just signs pointing in certain directions. The finger pointing at the Moon is not the Moon.