Time Is Energy (and the principle of Chronos and Kairos)

The Greeks (and therefore the New Testament) had two very distinct words for “time” .  One we are probably familiar with – Chronos. As in chronology, chronicles, chronic pain etc…

The other word , not so much. It is “Kairos” .

The simplest way to distinguish the meanings of these two words is probably the following example from Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Greek Words:

Chronos marks quantity, kairos, quality

Chronos is the seconds and minutes of time - either long or short. Kairos is a portion of time, the "things and events of time" (Strong's Concordance).  The English word "moment" might be a good way to describe it.

I recently read a blog by a young mother who used these two words to distinguish “time”.  She had become frustrated when older women would constantly come up to her and say something like “Cherish this time with your children! Its over so fast”

To her this somehow conveyed that she was not doing a good enough job “cherishing” or enjoying this time in her life when she had young children.  She was so stressed out just trying to keep them fed, clean and generally safe that she was not always “feeling the cherishing” .   And so she felt like a failure, like she didn’t love her kids enough or didn’t appreciate all that she had.

 The older ladies I’m sure did not mean to make her feel this way but such is the translation that can occur between one person’s mouth and another’s ear.

I know a bit of what this young mother feels, as does my wife. We are parents of an adorable, incredible and wonderful 11 month old daughter.

But man, its hard.

Having a child changed our world completely. It takes you to a level of selflessness you never knew existed.  And you get tired – real tired.

In talking with friends in similar stages of life and those who have done it before, there is a consensus that this is indeed the most stressful and busy time in a person’s life. 

Feeling guilty about not “cherishing” the time you have with your kids is, ironically, a waste of time. Not to mention energy and emotion. 

What this young mother eventually realized ( and I think what the older ladies were really probably referring to all along) was that this is not about cherishing the every second of the CHRONOS so much as it is cherishing all of the KAIROS.

Those precious moments when you realize how fortunate you are, how awesome and kind your Creator is, how wonderfully and fearfully your spouse and child were made  - when all the beauty just leaves you gasping for air. 

" As a person with a mental illness, time is not always my problem.  In fact, it rarely is. My problem is energy. "

One more thing before I sign off this post.  As a person with a mental illness, time is not always my problem.  In fact, it rarely is. My problem is energy. 

I usually have the time – but I rarely have the energy to do all the things I think I should do, much less the things I want to do.This is hard for most people to understand, and even harder to explain.

It’s not good when other people began to think that you are actually just lazy or selfish, it’s even  worse when you yourself begin to believe it.

I'm sure people with a wide variety of illnesses can relate to this.

But what I have found is that this principle of time we have been discussing also applies to energy.

I don’t always plan ahead very much because the more pressure there is to have a good time, the less likely it is for me to actually have a good time. This, of course, can make others understandably frustrated at my apparent lack of commitment or interest and I often feel terrible about that.

You can just forget about yourself and try and fake it for your family and friends – but eventually they catch on ( especially your wife).  And, of course, you yourself eventually wear down.

Fortunately many of friends do understand this. One example is where a good friend asked me to be in his wedding party - a truly high honour! To my dismay I realized this was n't going to work very well though - I would just end up being a mess leading up to and during the wedding. So I explained this to him and he very graciously understood.

I was able instead to attend the wedding as a guest and put that precious "energy" into doing what I could to make his day very special.

So what I have learned, and my gracious, loving wife has too – is that we often enjoy our moments the most when they happen somewhat spontaneously or without a lot of pomp and ceremony. When in a “kairos” of time (or energy as the case may be) , all the beauty of life and God and family comes into focus.. and you can see clearly.

How sweet are those moments. How sweet is clarity.

Though I truly am thankful for every minute of life…. I really cherish those ones.

 See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time (KAIROS), because the days are evil.

 Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 

Ephesians 5: 15 - 17