A Matter of Time

"If you flow with life, you will find doors opening that would remain shut under the heavy onus of chronos." - Alan Cohen

Alan Cohen says in the first translation of the Old Testament from Aramaic to Greek there are two different words used for "time":  "Chronos presents time as we know it, dividing our temporal journey into seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and years.  Kairos [is best translated] 'when the time is right,' 'in the appropriate season,' 'in the fullness of time,' or 'in God's time.'"

God's timing is not talked about much nor is it a part of our prayers.  If He doesn't answer our prayer when we think He should, we think He isn't going to.  We don't say it as such, but if we give up praying for something, it's the same as saying chronos is our timepiece, not kairos.  

God's timing is seen throughout the history of man.  It's what the Bible is all about--"the fullness of time" when God provided a Savior for His wayward children and His plans for beyond.  Now, within our own lives we too often let chronos rule us.  

Cohen says, "Time as we experience it is an invention of the human mind," and points out how all of creation (plants and animals, the moon and the sun) are "in tune with natural rhythms, and everything gets done in perfect timing without fear, stress, resistance, deadlines, late notices, or penalities."  No wonder so many of us are drawn to nature--why we like to commune with animals, take walks in the garden, or long for a cabin in the woods.  It is how life was meant to be originally.  

Getting back to a natural rhythm might seem impossible for mankind in today's world.  Chaos would reign if most of us did not have schedules.  However, if we each would realize that God ultimately knows when the time is right and in what season of life is best to have our prayers answered, we, too, can be more in tune with the natural rhythms of life.  If we would just take some of those "invented" minutes each day and notice all that is beautiful around us perhaps we, too, can get into the flow of life where fear and stress do not exist.

Father, I have struggled in the past with the changing seasons in my life.  Thank you for bringing me through to a more joyful place--a truer place of being.

Link to scripture:  Ecclesiastes 3 with study notes by John Wesley

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