“Time is eternity that sees its own implementations.” – Plato
I know I have been posting a lot about Portugal in the past couple of months, but there was more to the trip than just photographs and style. I would say that out of any vacation I have been on, this one had me reflecting the most, especially in regards to time. The idea of time wasn’t really on mind until we reached the town of Evora. As I mentioned in a previous post, Evora was a very quiet town. So quiet in fact, that hardly any people were seen wandering the streets, and restaurants closed rather early. Many guidebooks and websites recommended this city because its old town is an UNESCO World Heritage Site. But what really drew me to Evora was its chapel made out of bones, Capela dos Ossos. Anyone who knows me well knows that I have an affinity to bones and death. Yes, it may seem really morbid and bizarre, but it’s definitely the philosophical wonderer in me. The chapel did not disappoint. Seeing the rows and stacks of bones and skulls caused me to reflect on the small amount of time that each person has on Earth. Our time is short, but it can be profound. What we do with our time while we are alive is important. We can live our life with a negative attitude, or one that is positive. We need to make the best out of the situations we are given. The impact that one person in one period of time can make, can affect the world for hundreds, or maybe thousands of years. This reflection was the reason why the chapel was built, to ponder about our limited existence.
After our visit to the bone chapel, Brandon and I continued to roam the city, in which we saw another one of its landmarks, a Roman temple known as the Templo de Diana. Seeing this large ancient structure had me thinking about how old it was, and how it was still standing, though in ruins. It was constructed in the first century CE, almost two thousand years ago, and here I was in 2018 looking up it its magnificence. I would be surprised if a structure built today would be around for tourists to gawk at thousands of years from now. But what if that were to happen? It’s interesting for me to consider my place in the timeline of our planet. Am I near the end, or am I merely the beginning? What will stand and remain in the future? Will these what we consider to be ancient structures, disappear? Once again, time was on my mind. And this temple was not the oldest artifact that we saw.
Brandon and I took a 20 minute drive out of the city to see Almendres Cromlech, a megalithic site built two thousand year before Stonehenge. While some people may look at the site as just a bunch of big rocks, I saw it as something humbling and beautiful. Built around 5500-4500 BCE, the site was a just a small glimpse into humanity’s past. What exactly were these rocks here for? Why were they arranged this particular way? Historians have their assumptions about community gatherings the sun and moon’s movements. While I stood in awe of these structures, I just kept thinking about time as a whole, and once again my place in it. As someone who struggles with anxiety and can too easily get caught up in a moment, it’s important for me to remember that time goes on. As George Harrison sang, “Life flows on within you and without you”. So, what did I learn from all this reflecting? Well for one, I learned that I have to make the most of my time. I need to savour and enjoy it. I need to pass on my knowledge and experience to others. Time can feel like it’s moving slowly or quickly, but it really is just constant. Our time will end one day, but time itself won’t.
Where are you going in such a hurry traveler?
Stop … do not proceed;
You have no greater concern,
Than this one: that on which you focus your sight.
Recall how many have passed from this world,
Reflect on your similar end,
There is good reason to reflect
If only all did the same.
Ponder, you so influenced by fate,
Among the many concerns of the world,
So little do you reflect on death;
If by chance you glance at this place,
Stop … for the sake of your journey,
The more you pause, the more you will progress.
by Fr. António da Ascenção
The seventh seal.
I haven’t seen it, but it has been recommended to me before!