Standing in the long now

Love the theme for Greenbelt 09 - "Standing in the long now"

In 1966, Eno, Stewart Brand, Danny Hillis and others set up The Long Now Foundation designed to 'foster long-term thinking'. At the Foundation they take a different perspective on time - they want to signal that life is not about speed but about presence, not about 'faster and cheaper' but slower and deeper. For example, they're developing 'The 10,000-year Clock' which only ticks once a year, has a century hand not an hour hand - and might even have a cuckoo, but only to emerge on a millennium.

In an age of 'do-it-now' and the instant decision, when waiting times are always coming down and the destination always trumps the journey, the idea of 'the long now' is deeply resonant for people of faith. In our traditions we keep alive the stories of iconic figures from past millennia because we know they will inspire us in bringing change to the present one.

So what does it mean to stand in this long now? To become long-sighted? To plan for a present we may never experience, to long for a world we may have left before it arrives. What would it be like if gratification was not instant and the waiting had not been taken out of the wanting.

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