The question is simple, and I find the answer to be just as simple. Even the Theoretical Physicist can choke on the question, finding no resolution. Just look at the responses to this question in a Google search! But I maintain the answer consists of one word: CHANGE. Time is simply the measurement of change in the universe. No change, no Time. Time is merely the unit of measure of change. Thus time can be fast or slow. On vacation time moves very quickly. Under the dentist's drill, time seems to stand still. But it is CHANGE that matters. If the electrons and other sub-atomic particles that compose our universe did not move and have variation of position and voltage, there could be no CHANGE; and no one would be able to measure it because there would be nothing to measure. If a ship's rocking to and fro ceased, if pleasure or pain didn't ebb and flow, how could Time be perceived?
But the remarkable thing about time is not that there is Time, but that Time is recognized!
For all cognitive beings, time is measured constantly, whether internally, like an animal's instinct to hibernate at the appropriate season because of changes detected in temperature and daylight hours, or externally, as in the laborer's gaze at his watch. It is this clock's measurement that is most familiar. The change of the second hand from one tick to the next. But it is the cognition of this change that is most remarkable. I maintain that it shows the bridge between the physical universe and of the realm of the Spirit. We have been given a gift, to notice the change that Time measures. And that CHANGE might have significance. This significance fills the soul and draws us to the One who gave the gift. Forgetting for the time being the controversial aspects of this, I'll address one issue. While all creatures render some significance to change, for purposes of day to day living and propagation of its kind, only one species gives meaning touching the Heart to this change measured by Time. Thus the Poet is born in us all. The Poet within looks at change all around and assigns significance. He loves and hates, he appreciates and values, and is appreciated and valued. But the Poet within can be squelched all too easily. It can be muted, silenced, and murdered when ignored or substituted. One can look so closely at the forest the trees are unseen. Do you doubt this? Why did the phrase "stop and smell the roses" originate? Because in the hustle and bustle to fill our lives in this daily grind, to satiate appetites and propagate our existence, the Poetry of life and change therein becomes lost. And that which is really important in life is substituted for a phantom.
So please take time to stop and smell the roses. Describe the fragrance, the change in shades of color. Notice the bee searching for more pollen to stick to its legs. Appreciate the fullness of heart that rewards the observation. Let it become a wellspring of action toward others you meet. Let it become change for the better for you and whom you meet. It doesn't come easy. It must be fought for. It is valuable enough to be battled for. Sometimes you'll win, sometimes you'll lose the battle.
In the subsequent stories I have attempted to describe some events I can now perceive as Remarkable. For good or bad. For joy or pain. The simple things and the complex. It has made me what I am today, someone who recognizes Time that should be appreciated in the present, and to be hopeful for the Time that will be revealed to us. And that will be truly Remarkable!