Time And Eternity: Cast Away Series

Noland stressed three points in his speech at the beginning of the film in Russia. First, he states that time rules over us without mercy. Christians might disagree, and argue that it is God who rules with mercy. Second, he says that we live and die by the clock – rather than by the grace of a sovereign God. Third, he says, never turn your back on the clock or commit the sin of losing track of time – it is a pulsating, relentless taskmaster. But he has no concept of a loving, compassionate God.

The psalmist writes, ’Our days on earth are like grass; like wildflowers, we bloom and die. The wind blows, and we are gone – as though we had never been here. But the love of the Lord remains forever with those who fear him. His salvation extends to the children’s children of those who are faithful to his covenant, of those who obey his commandments’ (Psalm 103:15–18). The writer of Ecclesiastes states beautifully that ’God has placed eternity in our hearts.’ And because God has placed ’eternity in our hearts’, we know that nothing of ’time’ will permanently satisfy us.

One thing we can observe from films like Cast Away is the utter emptiness of life without God. Life derives its true meaning not from self-fulfilment or success, but from a personal relationship with our creator. As C. S. Lewis once said, ’If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.’

When God Intervenes

There is a story in the life of Jesus, recorded in John 5:2–9. ’Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda, with five covered porches. Crowds of sick people – blind, lame or paralysed – lay on the porches. One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him and knew how long he had been ill, he asked him, "Would you like to get well?"

’’’I can’t, sir," the sick man said, "for I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred up. While I am trying to get there, someone else always gets in ahead of me."

’Jesus told him, "Stand up, pick up your sleeping mat, and walk!"

’Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up the mat and began walking.’

The man had been lying there for thirty-eight years, his eyes staring at the water; his gaze fixed on his only hope of something better. The very cause of his need prevented him from having that need met. Suddenly, his world is interrupted by a voice asking him if he wants to be made well. What a strange question! Surely, the answer is obvious? But his answer is revealing: it’s not ’Yes, that’s what I’ve been longing for,’ but a statement of the problem as he sees it – he has no one to help him into the pool.

Originally, all he wanted was to be healed, to walk and run as others could. Now, all he wants is someone to help him in to the water. The pool has become the object of his longing, and he cannot see any other solution to his problem. Sometimes, the search, however wearying and unfulfilled, becomes everything for us.