One of my favorite podcasts is OnBeing with Krista Tippett, and while driving today I listened to her interview with Richard Rohr. In that conversation he talked about chronos time versus kairos time:
Chronos is chronological time, time as duration, one moment after another, and that’s what most of us think of as time.
But there was another word in Greek, kairos. And kairos was deep time. It was when you have those moments where you say, “Oh my God, this is it. I get it.” Or, “This is as perfect as it can be.” Or, “It doesn’t get any better than this.” Or, “This moment is summing up the last five years of my life” — things like that, where time comes to a fullness, and the dots connect, when we can learn how to more easily go back to those kind of moments or to live in that kind of space.Now, I think that’s what the tradition means by the word “contemplation,” that to be a contemplative is to learn to trust deep time and to learn how to rest there and not be wrapped up in chronological time. Because, what you’ve learned, especially by my age, is that all of it passes away.
The first connection I made was with the vacillation between anxiety, frustration, and even disgust over what is happening daily with the impeachment circus and the myriad unjust and disgraceful actions (and words) from the orange goblin and his handlers and servants and the meditative visions you all have shared here that offer reassurance that this too shall pass and there is hope. One of the reasons I come to this forum is to pull myself out of that chronos mindset and connect more with a kairos space, where the angels and spirit guides live. It is surely helping me cope in these difficult times, and it is rather like there are two parts of myself coexisting: the ugh, what now, will this ever end? part and the calmer, quieter part that trusts that all is in motion and nothing can last. (Yes, I am a Gemini, but to be frank there are more that two parts to me--lots of voices in this busy mind, lol.) So I'm sharing this with hope that people suffering in the chronos space will remember to seek the kairos space in the way that works for them. And with gratitude for all of you whose visions help my own heart connect to that space and find solace.
I believe that you are speaking for all.
It is beautiful, to boot.
Thank you. I very much needed to be reminded of this tonight.
@herondreams, That's really beautiful. Thank you. Your description helped me to understand, at least in part, some unusual experiences I've had over the years. I believe that those were kairos space experiences.
There have been times when I was driving or busy doing other things, where I became aware that I was living in two worlds. And it felt like it came out of the blue. It wasn't dissociation (which I've experienced during those times when I've felt under extreme stress) -- nor did it feel like meditation, even though I was fully present in that moment. I just felt my two selves co-existing ... I had my feet grounded in two different worlds. And when I looked at the clock on my dashboard, and the physical matter around me -- for example, while driving, seeing the traffic lights, office buildings, people crossing the street -- I was aware of how everything was a product of creation and, in an instant, subject to change. That co-creation part of the human experience. To be honest, the first time that happened, it spooked me a bit. But that was the control freak in me. I was really in awe.
I now think it was an invitation by spirit to become comfortable in that Kairos space.