"God's Timeless Time"

One of the fun things about slowing down for Advent is the time we have to look up in the sky...and there, my friends, we truly see what Henri Nouwen describes this morning as "God's Timeless Time."

The Greeks had a word for that...Kairos - which in ancient Greek translated to mean the right or opportune moment. Another word the Greeks had for time was Chronos, chronological or sequential time.

In theological circles, these two terms refer to the difference between time that controls our days and time that comes in and out of our hearts.

Chronos is quantitative; it is measured on a timepiece, and it longs to control us.

Kairos is qualitative; it comes in and out of our lives only when we let it...for example when we pause in the middle of chronos to look up at the sky, or under a log, or into someone else's heart.

I took this picture from our porch in the mountains. Busy busy unpacking and scurrying around to make the house look right, I completely ignored the view until this heart glowed so brightly in the sky, I couldn't miss it.

Outside in my world it is pouring rain right now, maybe the first real rain in two months. I can't help but pause and give thanks for this manna from heaven, water which we so desperately needed to quench the desperate drought.

Just a gentle pause and glance out the window can let the Kairos moments in. Interestingly, in modern Greek the translation of Kairos is weather! We might describe Kairos moments as the weather of our hearts.