Jazz @ Emmanuel – Past, Present, Future – April 12, 2026
This month, Jazz @ Emmanuel explores our relationship with time in terms of past, present and future with works recorded by artists Nat King Cole, Claude Thornhill, Vincent Youmans, and Jerome Kern.
We regret that “Dr. J” will no longer be with us because he is now playing and singing for the angels. In his stead, Howie Alexander will be on Piano with Pam Johnson on vocals. The remainder of the musicians are yet to be determined. We know that it will be a winning combo sure to please.
Past, Present, Future
Under stress, pre-occupation, busyness, or anxiety, we can all occasionally forget what day it is. Right? But, “does anyone really know what time it is?” This question was written and sung by Robert Lamm and recorded by the group Chicago as part of their 1969 Chicago Transit Authority album. Lamm followed up that question with, “Does anyone really care?” I think we all care! Maybe waaaay too much? We worry about paying our taxes on time, getting to work on time, growing old…time is our master most of the time.
Einstein saw time as relative, subjective and connected to space. For him, the distinction between past, present, and future was a “stubbornly persistent illusion,” and that all time exists simultaneously. He may have been on to something.
It turns out, time is just a human construct to help us orient ourselves. We are quite dependent on our sense of time — Days, minutes, hours, seasons, lifetimes… all carry importance in how we live, move and plan for a future that may never exist.
Interestingly, the Bible has a lot to say about time.
- God is timeless and “with the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day” – 2 Peter 3:8 and Psalm 90:4.
- God is the creator of time as well as everything that exists. Genesis 1:1 and Hebrews 11:3
- He is the Alpha and the Omega, (Revelation 1:8 and 22:13) meaning he is the beginning of time and the end of time and yet there is no beginning and no end.
- And not unlike Einstein’s theory, he claims to be “I am,” existing in real time and yet outside of it because he is present in the past and future also.. Jesus said, “Before Abraham was, I am.” (Revelation 1:8 and 22:13) and yet, he entered time briefly for our benefit.
- He is eternal. He is always, always there and always here, omnipresent forever.
- He is omniscient, existing and seeing simultaneously in the past, the present and the future.
- And importantly, being outside of time means God does not change, grow, or diminish; He is the same “yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).
At the same time, he hears and answers our prayers – past, present and future and his love endures! In the words of Cyndi Lauper and covered by many a Jazz artist, “If you’re lost, you can look and you will find me, time after time. If you fall, I will catch you, I’ll be waiting, time after time.” (Time After Time, 1984)
God loves and forgives our old selves, our current selves and our “ego of our much improved future (or past) version of ourselves!” As we change and grow, God walks alongside us, in season and out of season: Past, Present, Future.
Jazz @ Emmanuel
2nd Sunday
September through May
5:00 PM in the Sanctuary.
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May 10, Mother’s Day
“Love is Contageous”
Where the spirited and spiritual come together in a new kind of celebration!
Join us.
FUN FACT!
A fragrant but toxic flowering shrub native to Brazil, Brunfelsia has the fun common name “Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow,” because each day the flowers change colors from purple to lilac to white. Grown in zones 9 and 10 in the U.S.