Time – we cannot control it.
When is a good time is an even more abstract question –
Without fullness of time, we can only judge a time is “good” against history, or possible future
Out of three three: Way, Truth, and Life; the first two are arguably beyond time, or at least not fully confined by time.
Think of “Way” as the real (e.g. lane, pavement) or abstract (a way is like a purpose). “Way” can exist without fully dependent on time.
“Truth” is also not fully dependent on time. A truth is so whether today, yesterday or tomorrow. Otherwise, not truth.
Life is both fully in the domain of time and controlled by it, but also out of the domain of time and not under its control.
Life controlled by time is growth and more growth (and decay). There is a trajectory where life is full of new discovery, and then the rest of the trajectory is either “going downhill” (no more excitement) or “spiraling inward” (no further passion to live).
Life beyond time is that at the point of creation. We lost it as recorded in early chapters of Genesis. Jesus is the Way to understand the Truth, and that by submiting to him, we have the new Life.
When we say “start again” to do something, there is a time element: we “start again” because we started at an earlier time. For whatever reasons, we want to start again: the activity is taken from the first thing in the sequence, but now happening at a new time.
The trouble is with little planning for the activity, we can find that we are not satisfied with how the activity is going, and we might want to start again. With a bit more experience, we can do much better.
In the lyrics:
The Church is wherever God’s people are loving,
where all are forgiven and start once again
The “start once again” for the “all are forgiven” is that the loving people of God are there to help, support and minister to those who have come to new life in Jesus. In the way others brought us to Jesus to start our new life, we help others to start their life again, their new life in Jesus.
The all forgiven + start again should be time critical but not time dependent.
It is critical that each individual must repent, accept Jesus as their saviour, and be forgiven. It is a one-off event.
It is not time dependent in that with the new Life in Jesus, we are on the Way in Truth – to have opportunity where we “start again” does not make sense. We cannot go back to the Way, Truth and Life, because we are already there.