“I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Corinthians 6:2)
I always wanted to fix my past. Turns out I can only fix my future.
I remember watching a movie as a boy: The Time Machine. The movie, I later discovered, was loosely based on the H. G. Wells novel of the same name. The movie version has been remade a couple of times; the last version was in 2002. If you like old-fashioned science fiction, it’s a pretty good story.
The idea of traveling through time fascinated me as a kid. Honestly, it fascinates me as an adult. The problem with the hero in the story (as far as I was concerned) was that he always traveled into the future. If it was me, I’d travel into the past. If I traveled into time past I’d be able to fix what went wrong and then, by the time I caught up with the present, things would be a lot better than they are because I had a chance to go back and fix them.
If I could go back in time, and if I was able to remember what happened when, I’d warn people of impending disaster — natural and man-made. By knowing what bad was going to happen in advance, I’d have a chance of preventing it from happening, or at least warning others to prepare for some terrible event I couldn’t stop.
I’d also know who was going to win the World Series and the Super Bowl. But I’m not great at remembering things like that and, besides, it would take the fun out of watching.
Privately, if I was able to travel back in time, I could undo a lot of the dumb things I’ve done in life. I’d finish college at twenty-two instead of dropping out at nineteen. I’d take my time and energy and youth a lot more seriously. I’d put more into the days I wasted. I’d do the things I should have done then, instead of regretting not doing them now. Mostly, I’d not say and do the things I’ve said and done over a lifetime that have hurt others. If I could go back in time and start fresh I’d be a lot better person.
I was thinking about time travel and what I’d do differently when it occurred to me that, because of my human nature, even if I could travel back in time, there’s no guarantee I’d behave better. There’s a pretty good chance that going back in time wouldn’t fix anything because it would still be me who was going back; a time machine isn’t going to fix that. Like Forrest Gump’s momma said, “Stupid is as stupid does.”
Once I gave up on the notion that I’d behave differently if I was given another shot at the past and gave up the notion of a science fiction time machine, it occurred to me that a real time machine might exist.
A real time machine?