Beginning of time

Everything has a time to it. Way before there are clocks and technology, everything is calculated, depended on the sky. Movements of clouds and weather, together with animal behaviour. Diamonds are forever, not because they are timeless, as in no time to begin with, rather diamonds has no time to end with. Time with only keep moving on, never stopping, while diamonds are the same, they will never disintegrate, stronger than rocks and steel.

Everything has a time to it. Way before there are clocks and technology, everything is calculated, depended on the sky. Movements of clouds and weather, together with animal behaviour. Diamonds are forever, not because they are timeless, as in no time to begin with, rather diamonds has no time to end with. Time with only keep moving on, never stopping, while diamonds are the same, they will never disintegrate, stronger than rocks and steel.

She is a very profound thinker, this niece of yours! I think that she is asking about the nature of time. Does time exist even if there is noone there to record it? (Yes. Clocks are only a way that we have of measuring time. If you are in a place where there are no clocks, time passes, nevertheless, so how DO people measure it then? By where the sun is in the sky, by night and day or by the seasons - spring, summer, fall, winter and so on). I suppose that there must have been a 'beginning of time' - it isn't logical to say that there wasn't - but it is just as difficult to think of how it would be if there were no time! Would everything happen all at once? If I made a cup of tea, would I be boiling the water, putting the tea and milk in the cup and drinking it all at once ... and FOREVER! Actually, a place where time doesn't really exist is our memory. We can remember what we did yesterday and last week or all the times we went to the park all at once (and in whatever order we like). Our memories are Time Machines! We can 'travel in time'! It gets more and more complicated the more we know about it, too. Things that travel very close to the speed of light have a different rate of time and, presumably, if you were a photon, it would take you no time at all to get from that distant star to Earth, even though people on Earth can see that it takes years and years! Maybe that concept is just too mind boggling and you had better not mention it to her just yet!

Man invented a method of splitting up a day into time as we know it. Sundials and then clocks Before that time was measured in days and lunar months and soltices (longest/shortist day of the year.) and generations. Astronomy also played a part in long time scales. Other living creatures split up the year into breeding cycles and that in turn is governed by food supply determined by the seasons and location on Earth. Ahh! 4 year olds will keep you on your toes!

Well, since I am a creationist, when my children have come to me with these kinds of questions I will always turn to the bible. I think that the bible tells it so much better than I have ever been able to do myself. I've read the story of creation from Genesis to my children many times and because of that, they don't have too many questions to pose to me about the beginning of time. The bible is a great tool for me, but it wouldn't work for everyone.