Monday, February 4, 2013

TIMING

The New Testament was written in the Greek language and contains nuances that are not automatically captured in English. For example, there are two different words for "time" that are used in the New Testament. We use one word to convey both meanings in English. The first Greek word is "chronos" which defines time as we most often understand it: seconds, minutes, and hours.The second word is "kairos" and is a bit trickier to define. It might be easiest to think of it as hunter pulling back the string on his bow and then at just the right moment releasing the arrow. He must have good timing to hit a moving target. Kairos is also that experience of losing all sense of chronos time. It's when you are so caught up in an experience that time passes quickly without your awareness. It can also be defined as opportunity--a moment when something special can happen.
 
Sarah Ban Breathnach in her book, Simple Abundance, contrasts the two words: “Chronos is clocks, deadlines, watches, calendars, agendas, planners, schedules, beepers. Chronos is time at her worst. Chronos keeps track. ...Chronos is the world's time. Kairos is transcendence, infinity, reverence, joy, passion, love, the Sacred. Kairos is intimacy with the Real. Kairos is time at her best. ...Kairos is Spirit's time. We exist in chronos. We long for kairos. That's our duality. Chronos requires speed so that it won't be wasted. Kairos requires space so that it might be savored. We do in chronos. In kairos we're allowed to be . . . "
 
The Bible says, "Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil" (Ephesians 5:15-16). Care to guess which word for time is used here? Yep, kairos!
 
Today there will be all kinds of kairos opportunities throughout your day. Don't miss them because you are so busy doing chronos.

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