No, this is not some epic fantasy like The Lightning Thief. My intended referent is not that Kronos. I am not speaking of the biggest baddest most evil Titan but am speaking of "Time" and its two variant understandings.
Thanks to technohazard for getting me going on this. Sorry it took me so long to work on it.
To be acutely honest, I think anyone can reach the same conclusions and reach accord, but there are a few obstacles in the way, namely: translation errors, time, and human error. Sometimes things just get communicated wrong. Most of the time, these are the abstract concepts or things that are steeped in phenomenology, which is a fancy way of saying that we describe phenomena differently.
Take for example, "up" and "down" don't actually make sense in space (think Ender's Game) without a reference point. If we are on Earth, though, we might be better off saying "away from the earth's core," "movement towards earth" or something along those lines because those are more reflective of reality. Up and Down are based in the phenomena of our own limited perspectives.
Additionally, does the sun really "rise"? Or is that the Earth turns and the sun comes into view? Of course, we, native speakers of English, don't have any problems understanding "the rising of the sun" despite our knowledge of modern science and how the earth revolves around the sun. My thought is that differing perspectives can thrive in most any language but they might be harder to express. We just have to take the time...
Time though is seriously against us. We, especially those of us in America, live in a world of Kronos where everything is set to clockwork. One thing to the next, we rush. Kronos time points to a cultural focus on the seconds ticking by. If only we could get everyone to understand that they need to take the time to slow down from time to time and look at the more important things in and beyond this life.
This is where human weakness comes into play. Think about it, we live in a world focused on Kronos type time, why? Partially because we are thinking only of ourselves and what we can get out of life. It is when we take that first step out to sacrifice the time that is so precious to us that we enter into Kairos.
Kairos time is the parallel to Kronos time, and focuses more on a relationship-based way of chronicling time. In some cases, it could even be translated as "God's time." After all, God, outside the boundaries of Kronos, operates on His own set of rules and brings things to their fullest when the moment is opportune. I like to think of Kairos time as somewhere in between being lazy and being impatient.
Rushing because the seconds are ticking causes many things to go to waste, but on the other hand, inaction brings nothing into existence either. Kairos is the happy medium, where one's reliance on God keeps your focus centered and you progress from one spiritual stepping stone to the next in a calm unhurried manner. That is ideal, because really, when our trust is in the Lord what need we fear? Not even the passage of time.
Sometimes a simple gut check of our own phenomenological understanding of time can help us to keep on the right track. Are you stuck in Kronos? Can you live in Kairos?
Go and Set the World Ablaze
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