Glenn Stewart Coles, 9251 Yonge Street, Suite 8-924, Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada, L4C 9T3

Text Box: I was introduced to the word ‘kairos’ by a reader from Georgia. She related the word ‘kairos’ to the magic moment that I described in a recent column. Apparently the Greeks had two words for time. Chronos refers to sequential or chronological time, where everything happens in order. Kairos refers to ‘God-time’, a spiritual moment laden with meaning.

So I figured that if the word ‘chronological’ came from the word ‘chronos’, then the word ‘kairos’ could be extended to ‘kairological’, 

When we perceive the world kairologically, we are seeing the beauty and perfection of the moment, and therefore seeing the beauty and perfection of every moment. When we feel a beautiful moment, we are not only experiencing that moment, but also pairing it with all the other beautiful moments in our lives. We awaken special memories that are linked not by time but by feeling.

When I have that special feeling at Christmas, I am relating to all previous Christmases, and all the special feelings that holiday has awakened. When we feel comfort eating a particular food, we are relating to all the times that food has made us feel comfortable. By remembering our lives in a kairological manner, we strengthen our feelings.

The word ‘kairological’ is not in the dictionary. As a species, we are too focused on chronological time to fully understand kairological time. What I did find in the dictionary was the word ‘karyology’, which is the study of the characteristics of the chromosomes in the nucleus of cells.

Then it struck me. Chromosomes are structured by DNA, and though we may experience things chronologically, our DNA links together experiences and feelings that we continually remember over time. Who we are and what we are meant to be exists at the very core of our being, and it is in those special moments that we remember. When we remember the special moments, we shine. When we shine, we are reflecting God-time.

God time exists within our DNA. It is awakened at certain moments, when we are closest to God. When we feel love and compassion, we are in God-time. When we feel joy and ecstasy and warmth and comfort, we are in God-time. When we are at peace, we are in God-time.

As you feel your special moments, it is possible to both bask in the glory of now, and to remember all the previous ‘nows’ that awakened the same feelings. Time is only sequential when we want it to be.



© Copyright Glenn Stewart Coles, 2005


First Published November 21, 2005

It’s About Time

 

 

‘Kairos refers to ‘God-time’, a spiritual moment laden with meaning.