Tempora vitae
Tempora vitae means seasons of life, literally “times of life”. With this website I want to provide insight into that rhythm of life and reinforce the sensitivity for what it means.
Life has its arcs of time. For example, you can divide life into three phases. As a child you receive all kinds of impressions. That puts one at the receiving end as a child, no matter how inventive and creative you may be at the same time. As an adult you have discovered that the world you became familiar with is not yet finished. As an adult you therefore stand for your share in the ongoing knitwear of history.
Maybe it is your challenge to prevent some few stitches from falling. Your powers are most intensely mobilized if you have the responsibility for a problem that has not yet been solved. Everyone wants innovation nowadays. But if you are truly innovative, you should not expect that your ideas will be accepted quickly and that everyone is grateful. That means you have to be able to go against the current. It takes time before renewal can become accepted, and that can take a long duration. During that time you also have to endure resistance and adversity. Endure – beautiful word!
That means you have to be able to go against the current.
Then there is also a third phase. Now that we are all getting older, that phase needs further development. Whoever gets older becomes an “elder”. The Greek word for that is presbyter, priest. H/she comes from a different time and represents that time in person. S/he has something to pass on to the future, to the next generation. In that phase you don’t have to make your own point that much anymore. If necessary, you may still do that, but in addition to what you had to say yourself, you have become more conscious of what so many other people have to say, often things that are forgotten and unheard. So three phases, receiving, taking position, passing on. If you look at all three of these phases, you will notice that you are being carried further by and are also yourself the carrier of an ongoing history. We listen to the past, which has left all kinds of impressions on us and has shaped us. We then raise our own voice and make the point we have to make in our time. Finally, we contribute to the destiny of history beyond our own lives. Doing so we also reach our own destiny.
