Time

The monastery bells ring out the liturgical hours defining the times of work and prayer. Somewhere in the busy life of a Trappist there is the grace of contemplation – untimed without a beginning or definite end. 

When is an appropriate time to talk about current times? Or when would Christ know the right time to be about his Father’s business? or the time had come to begin his ministry? How to define the spirit of the time, now, or then? What a strange concept and complex word is time. The Greeks gave us the nuance of two perceptions of time: chronos and kairos. The difference is real and worthy of a reflection.  

Chronos is what we commonly recognize as time, measured against a standard. It is what hangs over me, telling me when I am late or have a deadline. Schedules run by chronos. History and events are structured by chronos without which there is no order to history as a continuum. 

On the other hand, kairos time is nebulous, ethereal, wistful, a moment without constraint of a clock. In kairos time there is no measure, no definite beginning or end. It cannot be measured but can be judged. It is what is whiled away. Sadly, often it is what may have been wished for, or used to better advantage, or gotten around to. It is not procrastination. Kairos time differs from what we refer to as “an earliest convenience,” or an “as soon as I can.” Rather, it is when conditions, circumstances and surrounding audience allow for it. Sometimes the right time requires discernment and judgement. At other times, it is just a pleasant time for thought, daydreaming, or time of maturation.  

The Italian language uses the delightful phrase “the sweetness of doing nothing.” Benedictine spirituality encourages “holy leisure” and play with no particular goal other than reenergizing the spirit. Those moments uncluttered by chronos time are a gift, a blessing when life can be savored. 

Richard Fitzgerald