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| |  | Michael Fox CPCC,
founder of m�agine!,
is a professional
coach and trainer,
author and creative artist, whose work has been featured throughout
the world.
Michael is a
Certified Practitioner
of the
Myers-Briggs
Type Indicator.�
Do you know someone
who might benefit
from our weekly email?
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Baseball--as readers may have gathered by now--has been a compass rose on my pilgrimages near and far, a trusted third base coach beckoning me home, and, indeed, baseball represents home itself--its fields and cathedrals proxies for a homeplace relinquished long ago.
In September 2008, I met my nephews--Daniel and Kevin, and Kevin's son Andrew Michael--in New York City for two games during the final week of the baseball season and, lamentably, the final week in the life of The Yankees Stadium, circa 1923. It would be Daniel and Kevin's first trip to "The House that Ruth Built" and Andrew's first experience of a Major League Baseball game. The pilgrimage to The Yankees Stadium was a wondrous sequel to a summer day some twenty-five years prior when I carried young Daniel and Kevin to their first ballgame--then on the opposite coast--to witness New York's Mets play the home team at Dodgers Stadium.
Our day (and, incidentally, Andrew's third birthday) began in Midtown Manhattan. We spent the morning exploring the city--walking north in the general direction of the Bronx; then, following lunch in the crowded basement of the Carnegie Deli, we took Andrew to work off some energy on the playground at the southern end of Central Park. Afterward, we found a secluded stand of trees on a gently sloping knoll of the park. There we rested neath the passing clouds of the autumn sky on a serene oasis in the midst of one of the busiest cities in the world.
It's difficult to recall just how long we napped in Central Park, before we boarded the jarring subway ride to East 161st Street. It was one of those rare moments when, in contrast to the world around us, "time stood still." It's difficult to describe in English the sense of such moments; the Greeks' expansive vocabulary, however, has two words for time that are helpful in understanding a "time outside of time" moment: chronos and kairos.
Chronos time is chronological time, clock time. Sophisticated clocks, in fact, are sometimes referred to as "chronometers." Chronos time is, as one has described: "The passing of spring, summer, fall, winter. Or morning, noon, and night. It has a beginning, middle, and an end." Chronos time is a taskmaster; by it we measure our lives.
Kairos time, by contrast, is an opportune or appointed time. Jesus used the word kairos when he declared, "The time (kairos) is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand" (Mark 1:15). Kairos is a moment of undetermined time in which something special, something transcendent, occurs.
Kairos time indeed transcends chronos time. Chronos is measured in minutes; kairos is measured in moments. We "do" in chronos; we are allowed to "be" in kairos. Chronos is valued in quantitative terms; kairos is valued in qualitative terms. Chronos is about speed; kairos is about space. We may exist in chronos, but we long for kairos.
That day in Central Park, in the heart of New York's metropolis, chronos time throbbed all about us, evidenced by clouds passing, shadows falling, horns honking, people scurrying. But there on that shaded knoll--as again later in the evening at the ballpark--my beloved nephews and I were immersed in kairos time: a "time outside of time" moment.
What comes up for you when you think of kairos time?
When you cry out, "I need more time!," are you craving chronos time or kairos time?
What might it take for you to carve out kairos space in your chronos schedule? |
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Michael Fox
m�agine!
530/613.2774
407 Myrtle Drive
Farmerville, LA, USA 71241
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In addition to personal and professional coaching,
m�agine! specializes in spiritual transformation coaching,
employing its proprietary models
--Values, Vision, Voice and Heart, Soul, Mind & Strength--
as well as
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator� curriculum
published by CPP, the People Development People.
Michael's books include
Complete in Christ,
Complete in Christ Spiritual Transformation Workbook,
and Biblio�files.
Coaching fees are based upon a sliding scale. Contact us for details.
For additional information, visit our website at maginethepossibilities.net.
Limited scholarships are available for spiritual transformation coaching.
On the flip side, if you are able, please inquire about opportunities
to fund scholarships for those who cannot afford coaching fees.
View our archives!
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