What Time is It?

WHAT TIME IS IT?

The ancient Greeks had different words to describe different understandings of the nature of time.  One of these words was Chronos which referenced time unfolding sequentially in a straight line.  Our word chronology captures this meaning.  This is how our physical and material living is oriented.

The other word is Kairos which referenced a special moment in chronos time that can alter the course of history.  It is a moment when a corner can be turned and the entire direction of history is changed.  It is a moment of possible historical transformation. But it only presents itself briefly.  If not taken advantage of it passes and will not repeat itself.  Metaphorically, it is like an apple that has achieved its moment of peak ripeness and must be plucked or its possibility begins to rapidly decay.

We will often say that chronological time does not stand still.  What we mean is that we humans cannot stop it in order to change actions we see in retrospect as regretful.  The same is true of Kairos time.  Once it is past it is gone forever.

An example of chronos time is its constant movement forward in increments that we celebrate at New Year’s Eve.  Another year is gone.  Another new one is confronting us. This celebration is an acknowledgment of the passing of time as inevitable and unchangeable.

An example of a kairos time is the moment of the Cuban Missile Crisis in October of 1962 when President John F. Kennedy, instead of yielding to the insistence of his military advisors to commence a war with terrifying nuclear consequences, chose to backwater negotiate with Premier Nikita Khrushchev of the Soviet Union to ease the crises and avoid a potential world catastrophe.  In brief, a corner was turned at this critical moment, America’s relationship with the Soviet Union began to shift and the course of history was changed.  Fortunately, it was a change that was positive for our human future. It could have been a negative kairos moment if Kennedy had listened to his advisers.

Within the scope of chronos time, a kairos moment can present itself without expectation.  The election of Donald Trump to the US presidency has offered such radical change in leadership that it holds forth the potential of a new American direction.  Decisions made by congress and the American people will determine whether this potential will be positive or negative.  When we vote in November we are voting for one of these outcomes.

Robert T. Latham

The canary in the coal mine

is already dead.

We are over the rainbow and there

is no somewhere else to go.