Mysteries of Time and Doctor Who

Clocks slay time... time is dead as long as it is being clicked off by little wheels; only when the clock stops does time come to life.  -- William Faulkner 

When we met, one of the first things he introduced me to was Doctor Who. Jesse loves the show. He has watched almost everything that has been made and is very well acquainted with all 11 faces of the Doctor. He was watched every episode of the 6 current seasons (yes, that includes the specials) and, as they are being released (whether on DVD or CD), the early days of the show, which strive to strain the patience the most appreciative fan with too many details about aborted escape plans, shrill companions and heroes who mean well but are absolutely thick until irrefutable evidence is thrust under their noses as they are almost killed (only to be rescued by The Doctor).

Thank goodness for Russell T. Davies and Steven Moffat and whoever else is hired to exert their creative powers in present days. Brilliant stories. I find that I am becoming a bigger fan with each episode I see. Just for the record, all portrayals of The Doctor have had their own special magic but my favorite is and always will be Christopher Eccleston. (Matt Smith is a close second.) 

Rory: What's wrong with you? What has she done to you? 

The Doctor: Poisoned me, but I'm fine ... well, no. I'm dying. But I've got a plan.

Amy: What plan?

The Doctor: ... Not dying! See? Fine.

(Later)

Rory: Doctor, River was brainwashed to kill you.

The Doctor: Well, she did. And then she used her remaining lives to bring me back. As first dates go, I’d say that was mixed signals.

But details of my preferences aside! This post is about Time. I have been amazed by the utter brilliance the show has encased so many times. It might be a line a character says or a situation; it might be a look on an actor's face, but there have been so many times I've had to hit the pause button and think or laugh... or shed a couple of tears. 

Aside from these details, it has been because of this show that I have been having serious thoughts about Time, Dimensions, Right & Wrong, Immortality, Love. The Universe is so much bigger than we can comprehend. Even if you don't believe in God, or the existence of an Ultimate Truth, it is still enough to startle our little world. [Now, add God. :-)] This show asks questions so many times. There are moments when it tries to answer (and does a fair job of it, I might add) but most of the time, it seems that the writers only wanted to raise the questions, to make us think. 

Life is a contradiction in many ways. Nothing is. Yet Everything is.  We are nothing, insignificant. Yet, we are Everything. Nothing is All. All is Love. I don't understand it and until I quit this dimension, I never can. But I can wait. I will rest content in catching brief glimpses of Truth through this brief lifetime...

And when is there time to remember, to sift, to weigh, to estimate, to total?  -- Tillie Olsen

The Doctor: Through crimson stars and silent stars and tumbling nebulas like oceans set on fire, through empires of glass and civilizations of pure thought, and a whole, terrible, wonderful universe of impossibilities. You see these eyes? They're old eyes...