Time is a major concept in modern culture that has been used to deceive people because its radical nature has been lost to most people. More precisely, the belief that time is an unwavering, constant thing which can be counted on as an absolute standard for judgment is wrong. Indeed, part of the flaw of physics, and all modern sciences which rest on empiricism as a solid ground for belief systems outside that of science, is that it treats, or at least until recently treated, time as an infallible measure of reality. For science, the three dimensions of length, depth and width are quantifiable measurements which can be converted into idealized qualities, i.e., numbers. To attempt to do the same thing with the mutable properties of the universe, scientists presumed that time is a fourth dimensions and the transformation of matter in this dimension is an accurate reflection of the changes that occur in physical reality.

With the advent of Einsteinian physics is became clear that the space-time continuum is much less of a fixed medium model the Newtonian mechanistic model aimed to establish but much more a dynamic, instable and highly changing entity. So, with that new foundation, scientists have been trying to draw the unseen conclusions that the leap from Newtonian to Einsteinian physics instantiated. However, it's ironic that these differences have been around as known concepts for millenia. In Scripture, there are two terms for time: kairos and chronos. I want to try and unfold the tremendous depth of these two words and the legacy the difference holds for us today. If people can see how time is touched on in Scripture differently perhaps they can begin to realize how time in their own lives works more effectively.

The first, chronos, actually refers to an ancient Greek myth of Chronos or Aeon (depending on which myth you refer to), the father of time. Now, I am not trying to go down the road of mythology, but, rather to introduce how the words used in Scripture had their own history we are simply unaware of for the most part. At any rate, some good stubs can be found here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronos). Chronos, in this picture, is the personification of unaging time. Now, that is significant because a person who never ages is captured at the same moment in their existence for time immemorial. They have no opportunity to do anything new. They are bound in the moment of their immortality.

In a less favorable light, chronos time, in its usage, is more of the concept of time that moves on without favor or concern for anyone. From it we the get the word for stopwatch (chronometer). And, there's the adage that "times stops for no one". The Greek notion of chronos had a less negative view of chronos time, but, what we have is unfavorable for the most part because it is neither caring nor forgiving, simply moving forward, the unending march of time. There are various references to the role Chronos played in Greek literature and poetry that essentially reveal Chronos is the arbiter of truth and ultimately establishes the will of the gods (their concepts, not mine!).

My take on this is that there is an experience, a mental state, where people can easily get lost in this sense of time. It is really a depressed state, a place where there is no opportunity, no freedom, simply the unwavering progression of events that lead through life: birth, youth, adulthood, elderliness and death. Hope enters into this worldview only as a concept, empowered by the energy the holder of the concept brings to it. In reality, it's a pretty sad, harsh sense of events and gauge for change in life. Albert Camus' The Myth of Sisyphus really echoes the essence of what this mentality leads towards for the soul of man. (More on Camus' essay here.) There is, though not readily apparent in the English concept of time, another notion I want to highlight and whose significance I want to use Scripture to underline.

On the other hand, Karios is, in the Greek myths, the youngest child of Zeus. I think the following snippet summarizes the difference between the two most clearly:

Kairos (καιρός) is an ancient Greek word meaning the "right or opportune moment" . The ancient Greeks had two words for time, chronos and kairos. While the former refers to chronological or sequential time, the latter signifies "a time in between", a moment of undetermined period of time in which "something" special happens. What the special something is depends on who is using the word. While chronos is quantitative, kairos has a qualitative nature.

(Please see Wikipedia for the full reading.) Mythologically, Kairos was the child of favor, the one who had opportunity. In contrast to Kairos, opportunity and favor were not thing Chronos had access to. Therein lies the fundamental difference between the two mythological sense of time. But, let's look at the Scriptural differences.

There are moments when human history and eternity intersect and overlap. This is where God annoints the affairs of men and time is no longer the ordinary passage of day into night and back into day again, but rather the opportune moment when men and women are given permission to partake in God's creative will. History is made in moments such as this. Look at Mark 1:15. This is an instance of kairos in Scripture, when, "He said, "The time has come, and the kingdom of God is near. Change the way you think and act, and believe the Good News."" Prophecy is being fulfilled. The days written about in this verse are seasons when history is no longer just a record of events but the creation of something new, a turning point in history.

On a more personal level, kairos moments occur all the time. Look at Paul. His Damascus road experience was a kairos moment. Any encounter we have with God is kairos, an opportunity to change, to grow, to love. But, what is as important about realizing that we are in a special season (a karios time) is knowing what to do in response to that revelation. Last week my pastor spoke on how revelation and response are two key things that happens with regards to God. In this entry, I am simply touching on the fact that there are moments unlike the normal times in our lives when opportunity presents itself. That is the revelation and we simply need to be made aware of these moments. The other half of the equation is responding to those moments. If we are speaking to someone and the Holy Spirit comes to soften their heart for evangelists to sow the seed or harvest the fruit, one must be close enough to sense God's will in opportune moments. Without great enough intimacy with God to hear him when he speaks, being aware of the opportune times will do no good. Much like blind men who feel the breaking of cold clouds from the warmth of their skin, they still remain blind to see what God does when the seasons change.

Madeline L'Engle wrote in Walking on Water:

Kairos. Real time. God’s time.

That time which breaks through chronos with a shock of joy, that time we do not recognize while we are experiencing it, but only afterwards, because kairos has nothing to do with chronological time. In kairos we are completely unselfconscious, and yet paradoxically far more real than we can ever be when we’re constantly checking our watches for chronological time.

The saint in contemplation, lost to self in the mind of God is in kairos. The artist at work is in kairos. The child at play, totally thrown outside herself in the game, be it building a sand castle or making a daisy chain, is in kairos. In kairos we become what we are called to be as human beings, co-creators with God, touching on the wonder of creation.

Those moments when God breaks through the drudgery of our ordinary experience...that is the essence of kairos...and we as Christians seem lost in the war with time so much that we lose sight of these openings. We have to listen more closely to hear when we are given these timeless, divine appointments.