Saved By The Bell: Thoughts on Synching the Sacred
The
alarms sounded again in our home this morning signifying that once again, a
summer has passed, a year has gone by, my kids are on the cusp of entering high
school and I am getting older. I don’t
look at it as something to fret over but it does make one nostalgic for time
spent changing out diapers rather than being certain the kids change their
razors (yes, shaving is now a regular occurrence in the house too).
Today as
I rode my stationary bike (so as to fend off the messages my body sends me reminding
me of my mortality), I was reading Kathleen Bryant’s recent article in Presence Journal,“Being Contemplative in a Digital World.”
In it she brings up an important distinction in how we look at
time. She notes, “A spirituality for the
digital world demands the ability to navigate between kairos time and chronos time. It is a spirituality that knows how to
WAIT! We get impatient waiting for
downloads yet we long for experience of the Timeless One!” It struck me how valuable a contrast to
consider and one that I noted in my previous blog regarding a need to unplug.
Chronos
and kairos are two sides of the same coin of time but we often fail to consider
how they impact us. We live most of our
time thinking only in terms of chronos time, that is, time as it relates to our
schedules, when the bell sounds for class, deadlines, when Dr. Who starts, or
any number of those items in our day planners.
Kairos time on the other side, has to do with time “engaged with the
Divine…significant moments that we always remember (pg 47).” The clock is no longer what determines the meaning
but instead, our souls take the lead.
Both
chronos and kairos could be seen as time wasted if one does not consider the
deeper implications. While I might waste
time watching a really bad movie on Netflix, the time I spend out in the woods
waiting for wildlife to cross my path, might also be considered wasted – but in
a good way, a way that brings an encounter with silence, with stillness, with creation and
with God.
The time
that was right for Jesus to come for us (Romans 5:6), is kairos time – time that
is given by God. Yet even the followers
of Jesus cannot influence or calculate the kairos time as Jesus makes clear in Mark13:33. Bryant suggests however, that we
consider how our proximity to the Holy allows us to “synch” our souls in a
similar way that we “synch” up all our technology. To do so, however, will require an
attentiveness to how we use our chronos time that we might make room and space
for kairos time.
I am
convinced anyone can, the question remains can anyone? Others through history have but have you? Can we be content with what is right here and
right now? Is it possible for us to
savor the moments of life rather than just see the minutes on the clock? Some things must be un-done in our lives. It maybe only a small change in five minutes
of your day or as significant as practicing a full day of Sabbath (you might
consider reading Morgan Guyton’s insightful post on Sabbath). Before our soul sets off alarms warning we’ve
reached our limits and are lost, we ought to consider setting an alarm on the
clock to be aware of the soul and the Spirit.
May I
Ask? What is the condition of your soul?
May I
Suggest? For help in synching up with
God and becoming attentive to kairos time, you might consider using one of
these sites:
The
Upper Room: http://devotional.upperroom.org/
Pray As
You Go: http://pray-as-you-go.org
Three
Minute Retreat: http://www.loyolapress.com/3-minute-retreats-daily-online-prayer.htm
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