Over the SEITE weekend Brother Patrick Moore caused us to think about time differently. He outlined two sorts of time.

The first of these was chronos, from which we get chronology that divides time into past, present and future. This is how we commonly think of time. It was interesting to hear Brother Patrick outline how with chronos we can be in more than one place at a time – a kind of confused Dr Who style Time Lord. At times during Brother Patrick’s lecture although I was physically present in the room my mind drifted ahead to the future and sometimes back to the past and so it could be argued that I was in all the spheres of chronos in a short space of time.

This is as much a play on words as anything else, but I enjoy thinking in this way.

Interesting and challenging, as well, to realise that because God cannot be constrained or divided that God, as such, cannot exist in chronological time. Chronological time, itself, is too limited to contain God.

Kairos time is exclusively time in the present. For me, personally, Kairos time can occur in front of my computer screen or very easily when sat on a beach gazing out to sea. Kairos stays in the present because we lose track of time, when asked ‘how long you been sat there’, our honest answer is ‘5 mins? 20 mins? … 2 hours? … I dunno!’ Kairos time is a waste of time, but a waste of time with God.

Prayer is wasting time with God.

Kairos time is what Jesus was talking about when he challenged his disciples to not worry about the future or the past, but to live in the present. God is called I am, not I was or I will be – there is a clear emphasis on the present. It’s not easy to forget the past or to be impartial about the future; but I suspect there is more of God to be understood if we can grasp the Kairos thing.