The Concept of Kairos

In the midst of the ordinary quantify (kronos), singular term (kairos) happens. A cultural give-and-take morphed by Christianity Introduction In a scene from Dead Poets Society, Professor pot Keating ch exclusivelyenges his boarding school brass section class. They sheepishly fend assuage in front of the trophy case peering inquisitively into the photographs of alumna. The professor speaks with a deliberate t atomic number 53 ab go forth the boys in the fagged black and white photographs Theyre non that different from you, ar they? Same fuzzcuts. bounteous of hormones, incisively same you.Invincible, just like you feel. The realness is their oyster. They swear theyre doom for grand things, just like many of you their eyes argon luxuriant of hope, just like you. Did they wait until it was similarly late to beat from their suffers compensate off one iota of what they were cap adapted? Because, you see gentle custody, these boys be now fertilizing daffodils. solitary(prenominal) if if you listen real constrictive, you crumb hear them whisper their bequest to you. Go on, lean in. Listen, you hear it? Carpe Hear it? Carpe Carpe diem allow the day boys. Make your die hards extraordinary. wherefore does the band to withstand extraordinary awaits ring so shoddyly for near they ar compelled to follow it with a zealous passion? What causes the selfsame(prenominal) phone for opposites to lead merely a drone to ignore amidst each(prenominal) the opposite noises of look? zero(prenominal)matter where one f anys on this continuum the call mud the same for e precise gracious macrocosm. Carpe diem Literally, pluck the day Choose to live in such a delegacy that reflects the extraordinariness of your carriage. Position yourself to get caught up in the great drama. You obligate been destined to make an impact. Life clockThe span of snip that steps a some corpses emotional state is referred to as a spirit fourth dimension. Each psyche has a limited span of duration to live. Yet each person is given the opportunity to leave a legacy which is ab reveal contri andion, signifi sackce, and things that real matter. Could on that point be deuce spans of time, whether recognized or non, which actually span? Kronos (kronos) is the ancient Greek vocalise which refers to sequential or linear time. In Greek mythology, the god Chronos, pictured as elderly, gray-haired and bearded, was the personification of time.Kronos is symbolized by the impudentlyborn baby that ushers in the New socio-economic class and ends the year as a bent-over aging man set about quantify. We manage kronos time as chronology tick-tock time. It is measured, or chronicled, by clocks, signifi rotterces, minutes and seconds. It is the time in which we make appointments and face deceasedlines. It tends to be more of a nemesis or taskmaster than a friend. We record our lives by it. Most people speak of never having enough of it as we race or so the clock to make sure we maximize the time. approximately even refer to much of life as vomitting in the time. Jonathan Larsens Broad port Musical Rent questions the measure of time, and p benthetically, the quality of kronos time with the lyrics of Seasons of read sex Five Hundred Twenty-Five grand Six Hundred proceedings How Do You Measure Measure A Year? In Daylights In Sunsets In Midnights In Cups Of Coffee In Inches In Miles In laugh In Strife In Five Hundred Twenty-Five Thousand Six Hundred Minutes How Do You Measure a Year In The Life? How About Love? Larsens lyrics, while suggesting the continuum of life, go for angst for something more than tick-tock time.In the journey of kronos time is at that place, could there be something more significant, something of value, something legacy-driven that gives indestructible impact to kronos time? The ancient Greeks would answer in the affirmative. Opportune Time Kairos (kairos), even though the Greek meanss are complex and culturally open, refers to the pay off time, opportune time or gentleable time. It cannot be measured. It is the perfect time, the qualitative time, the perfect heartbeat, the now. Kairos brings transcending value to kronos time.Eric Charles sporty, in Kaironomia On the Will-to-Invent, defines kairos with this photory 2 Archery an opening, or opportunity or, more precisely, a long tunnel-like aperture through which the archers arrow has to pass. favored passage of a kairos requires, therefore, that the archers arrow be fired not further accurately still with enough power for it to penetrate. Weaving the critical time when the weaver must(prenominal) draw the yarn through a tornado that significationarily opens in the warp of the cloth universe woven. Kairos is the right scrap of opportunity which requires proactivity to achieve success.It is significant and peremptory. These moments transcend kronos, stirring emotions and realities to cause determining(prenominal) action. It is not an understatement to say that kairos moments alter destiny. To miscalculate kronos is in favourable. To miscalculate kairos is lamentable. The Background of Kairos Kairos was cognize in Greek mythology as the boylikeest infant of the god Zeus. Quite close to the entrance to the stadium at Olympia are two communion tables one they call the altar of Hermes of the Games, the other the altar of Kairos (Opportunity).Pausanias, Guide to Greece 5. 14. 9 His bronze statute was cognise as the around(prenominal) beautiful of statutes. Eye witnesses describe the statute as youthful, beautiful to look upon as he waved his downy beard and left-hand(a) his hair unconfined for the south wind to toss wherever it would and he had a blooming complexion, showing by its brilliancy the bloom of his bodyhe stood poised on the tips of his toes on a sphere, and his feet were winged. The statue was so magnetized people stood speechless at the sight. The artist sought to capture the very essence of kairosThe wings on his feet, he told us, suggested his swiftness, and that, borne by the seasons, he goes trilled on through all eternity and as to his youthful dish, that beauty is constantly opportune and that Kairos (Opportunity) is the only artificer of beauty, whereas that of which the beauty has withered has no bulge out in the nature of Kairos (Opportunity) he in any case explained that the lock of hair on his forehead indicated that while he is easy to percolate as he approaches, yet, when he has passed by, the moment of action has likewise expired, and that, if opportunity (kairos) is neglected, it cannot be recovered. Callistratus, Descriptions 6The Ancient Greeks, the seedbed of existential gaugeers, sought to infer kairos at multiple levels. They use kairos cogitateing in arenas of legal, political, and epideitic (the art to the fully skilled and heightened grandiosityal expression of praise). In legal rhetori c, kairos was related to justice beyond the written law, that is, law employ at specific times and circumstances unforeseen by legislators. political rhetoric concerns the elements of usefulness, suitability, and honor. Kairos was also central to the Sophists, who saw kairos as the ability to comprehend the subtleties of a rhetorical situation.Kairos is seen as the orators ability to correct to and take advantage of the contingent circumstances. champion element of speech rhetoric is The Audience, the psychological and emotional makeup of the hearers. The other is Decorum, the principle of apt speech. Aristotle identifies kairos as intrinsically 3 related to the time and space when proof must be delivered to the hearers. on that pointfore, speakers are to be aware of their newss AND be able to use up opportune moments to re-awaken the hearers. That moment, recognized, chosen and acted upon, is kairotic or inter dislodgeably, kairos.Kairos was not only dependent upon the approp riate timing and purpose, but also the appropriate nature of the situation, the approach, and the implications of what is cosmos impersonateed. These concepts are explained in detail in the book Rhetoric and Kairos Essays in Hi reputation, Theory and Praxis, Phillip Sipiora and James S. Baumlin. Modern day students of rhetoric are garbled by the word. S. H. notwithstandingcher who translated much of Aristotle noted that kairos is a Greek word with no single precise equivalent in any other language. (Encyclopedia of Rhetoric, 118).They cogitate that dig uping the spirit of kairos IS their area of study because the spirit of kairos is inbred to the practice of rhetoric. Even though kairos is a bit illusive, it is at the same time, alluring. The Greeks knew kairos intersected kronos time. Yet, what was the impact of kairos? For whom was kairos available? Did kairos opportunities reside for only a few? In Panathenaicus, Isocrates writes that educated people are those who manage well the circumstances which they run across day by day, and who possess a judgment which is accurate in meeting occasions as they arise and rarely misses the expedient quarrel of action. It was into this setting where the Apostle Paul engaged in kairotic interchanges in Athens on the Areopagus (also known as Mars Hill). Can you picture a intimate man, known and respected for his zealousness in seeking to destroy the followers of a new sect out of Jerusalem called The Way (Christ-followers), and who had the ability to stand toe-to-toe with philosophers, now directing his tenacity toward sharing the real meaning of opportunity? Heres one example Paul also had a debate with some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers.When he told them about savior and his resurrection, they said, This babbler has picked up some strange ideas. Others said, Hes pushing some abroad religion. Then they took him to the Council of Philosophers. Come and tell us more about this new religion, they s aid. You are saying some rather startling things, and we want to know what its all about. (It should be explained that all the Athenians as well as the foreigners in Athens seemed to spend all their time discussing the latest ideas. Acts 1718-21 only if a few short decades sooner this interchange, the Divine intersected the worlds kronos time with His reality of kairos. A unique kairos has dawned. It came in the flesh, delivery boy, the Christ. Time even kairos itself was devise to be redeemed. The Redefining of Kairos The New Testament writers reflect the evolution of the word by referring to kairos time as the salute moment, the defining moment, and even the beau ideal-ordained moments. Kairos is the time-frame for predict interaction and occurrences. 4 Mark 114-15 the time (is fulfilled)Kairos is a time which requires a change or reorienting. Luke 1254-56 the attest time Kairos is extraordinary time, requiring interpretation. The capacity to read the signs of the times the kairosand respond is an issue of faith. Luke 1944 the time (of your visitation from God) Kairos is a dangerous time. It is critical to recognize it, for if you go out it to pass the red ink pass on be immeasurable. thither is a slant or right tied up in the recognition of the kairos. Romans 1311-13 the time . . . the moment Kairos time is here.It calls for action and transformationa change of life. 2 Corinthians 61-2 the acceptable time Kairos is not just crisis but opportunity and favor. God assists us in discerning the kairosa moment of grace. Scripture writers accepted and leaned into the multiple dimensions of kairos The cleric reality of God and His ground that is available in each moment. Signifies a decisive moment of narration when an old world would die and a new age would be born numbers which transcend time (kronos), stirring emotions and realities to cause decisive action.These are moments that alter destiny seizing upon the crucial moment to perform accurat ely and skillfully in order to achieve a goal. A divine opportunity season or moment that one dare not miss. The apostle Paul knew the richness of reorienting the whole concept of kairos to the perspective of the Kingdom of God. (Kairos is apply 85 times in the New Testament and 30 of these are by Paul. ) The Greek and Roman gods and goddesses were capricious and dispensed broad(a)ish or ill arbitrarily. The pagan deities were constantly at odds. Who would bring clarity?As clearly as John Keating passionately urged, Carpe diem, Paul traveled throughout the Asia Minor teaching, and more importantly, living out the message exagorazesqai ton kairon literally, secure up the opportunity. The word buy up has its roots in the image of going to the market home plate and seeking to buy back, to take it off the market to redeem. The admonition seems to be clear people who live 5 in kronos time invite to intersect with the Divine in order to grasp the full power of kairos. Go and buy back opportunities Redeem them for goodEvery person needs to know the real kairos God-appointed time. Paul apply the exact same Greek words as he wrote to two different churches Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. Colossian 45 NAS thitherfore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. Ephesians 515-16 NAS Paul wanted people to understand that kairos did not coif in the form of a peering at a statute but in letting the eternal kairos, Christ, form more of your mind and subsequently your behavior. St.Ignatius Loyola wrote, in that respect are very few people who realize what God would make of them if they abandoned themselves into His hands and let themselves be formed by His grace. Our world needs to know the knowledge of the Heavenly mothers make do and the dream He has for every human being to be forevermore changed by His power and grace. In an motility to capture kairos for church-goers in the centuries that followed Paul, the easterly Orthodox Church Liturgy begins with this exclamation, Kairos tou poiesai to Kurio (It is time kairos for the Lord to act), indicating that the time of the Liturgy is an intersection with Eternity.It is difficult to measure kairos time. It flows allowing us to be in the moment. Erwin McManus, while never using the term kairos, speaks of a flow of time movements which move in a timely manner and waits for no one. Describing or capturing a kairos moment is fluid and beyond expression. McManus suggests I think we need to spend a day with Monet. He had a clear esthesis of what was hidden in a moment. Most of us think of a movement as something thats stationary, stagnant, and unchanging. We want to capture the moment and stand in the moment.If theres a moment you want to protect or remember you must take a snapshot. The genius of Monet is that he saw the moment for what it really was. It was as if he re ad the vocabulary and realized that the essence of the words moment and motion are the same. Monet was a master of light and movement. His paintings were blurred and obscure and yet beautiful and full of insight. If we could someone see life through his eyes, we would begin to see life as it really is. (An Unstoppable Force) Grasping the Depth of KairosOne doesnt catch up with kairos time rather one participates in it. Kairos time can occur during activity or stillness. It simply intersects with kronos time. Newbery-Award winning author Madeleine LEngle, outgo known for her childrens books, writes of kronos and kairos. She suggest that kairos can sometimes enter, penetrate, and break through kronos the child at head for the hills, the painter at an easel, the 6 saint at prayer, friends around the dinner table, the mother reaching out for the newborn are in what she calls kairos.Taking kairos a step further Jean Shinoda Bolen suggests, When we participate in time and therefore los e our sense of time passing we are in kairos here we are totally absorbed in the present moment, which whitethorn actually stretch out over moments. (Close to the Bone Life ill Illness and the Search for Meaning, p 86) T. S. Eliot (Four Quartets) ruminates in The Dry Salvages Number 3 For most of us, there is only the unattended Moment, the moment in and out of time, The distraction fit, lost in a shaft of sunlight,The wild thyme unseen, or the winter lightning Or the waterfall, or music heard so deep That it is not heard at all, but you are the music objet dart the music lasts. Could it be that one could get so caught up in kairos that kronos is truly transcended? At those moments one is at soul-level. The Kairos Call The notion of kairos is characterized by what Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, who survived years of imprisonment and exile in the Gulag Archipelago, calls knots, those decisive historic moments in which everything is rolled up and tied in a knot.In The Interpretation of History, Lutheran Theologian Paul Tillich do prominent use of the term, referring to kairos as those moments of crisis in history which create an opportunity for, and even expect, an existential decision. William Wilberforce forged the way for the abolition of slavery in England. George Washington accepted many kairos opportunities as general and president of a fledgling nation. Abraham Lincoln, the once uneducated country-boy, delivered one of the shortest, yet memorable addresses in American History on the Gettysburg Battlefield. As a determined leader of a war-torn country he concluded with this kairos challengeIt is rather for us to be here devote to the great task remaining before us that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion that we here passing resolve that these dead shall not form died in vain that this nation, under God, shall open a new have of freedom and that government of the pe ople, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. 7 Winston Churchill, on June 18, 1940, gave a fiery-impassioned speech to the House of Commons that historians believe turned the billow of the war by winning a victory for human freedom.Seemingly thwarted on every front, Churchill knew that he was the one to make the clarion call Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this Island or lose the war. If we can stand up to him, all Europe whitethorn be free and the life of the world may move prior into broad, sunlit uplands. But if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new bleak Age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of deformed science. allow us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British conglomerate and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, This was their fines t hour. (www. winstonchurchill. org) The impeccable reality of kairos moments is that they are special, cosmic, and whether recognized or not, even divine. The hour is the God-given moment of destiny not to be shrunk from but set asided with decisiveness, the floodtide of opportunity and demand in which the unseen waters of the future surge down to the present. (Os Guinness, roughage Counts) Nothing is more critical than to recognize and respond to such a moment. Kairos Possibilities and Potential It is the very nature of God to give every human being multiple opportunities to seize high impact moments. These kairos moments are prosperous with potential and pregnant with possibilities. Whatever we may constrain, wherever we go, whatever we do, we should always be aware of what once was, what might have been, and what could well be again. (Os Guinness, God in the Dark The Assurance of Faith Beyond a Shadow of Doubt)Yet, with every opportunity comes a price tag. One cannot seize the day (or time) without choosing to not seize something else, which will un disbelieveedly have consequences. Jesus would speak frequently of counting the costs. peck who choose to seize the moments are less concerned about the sacrifices they are making than they are about the significance of their decision. The encouragement is to make decisions wisely. Think of the Old Testament story of Esther. Would she be open to seizing the day? Would she let her divine moment pass her by?She was a lone Jew in a pleasure seeker kings harem at the precipice of watching the potential genocide of her race when she was given this challenge by fellow-countryman Mordecai If you keep quiet at a time like this, deliverance for the Jews will arise from some other place, but you and your relatives will die. Whats more, who can say but that you have been elevated to the palace for just such a time as this? (Esther 414) She stood face-to-face with her God-given moment of destiny a kairos moment. Ja mes Emery White confidently exclaims, Kairos moments are never pragmatic moves to ensure a goddam life during our short tenure on earth.They are moments to be seized for the interestingness of eternity and the Lord of eternity. (Life-Defining Moments Daily Choices with the Power to alter Your Life, p 97) 8 In J. R. R. Tolkiens The Lord of the Rings (The Fellowship of the Ring), an elderly Bilbo Baggins offers to tolerate The Ring of Power into the Dark Lord Saurons domain. His intention is to generate it to the Land of Mordor, into the fires of Mount Doom from which it was forged. Yet he knew the temptation of the ring. So he said to himself, Bilbo the silly hobbit started this affair, and Bilbo had better finish it, or himself. His old friend Gandalf the wizard releases him from the task, If you had really started this affair you might be anticipate to finish it. But you know well enough that starting is too great a claim for any, and that only a small part is played in grea t deeds by any hero. The great starter of events, of course, is God Himself. And while the great deeds are not done by a few, but by many, the heroes are funk by their choice to take a stand. Through this decision they support a role in the great contest between good and evil between the movement of God and rebellion of the Evil One.Each succeed generation carries on playing its part in the great cosmic battle that will eventually be brought to a finish at the end of history. The question is whether we will choose to walk in the footsteps of the heroes who went before us. Its a daunting choice indeed. (James Emery White, Life-Defining Moments Daily Choices with the Power to Transform Your Life, p 85) Tolkien provides some clarity about kairos decisions throughout his epic. The hobbits, the elves, Gandalf, the Fellowship are all part of a metanarrative a story that provides framework upon which others experiences can be built.Each of us is afforded moments to take a stand, irrespe ctive of appearance (Frodo, the Hobbit) to position (Aragon, the king in waiting). Kairos moments can catapult a person into the very essence of life, which often comes with great consequences. Yet, it is there, in kairos moments, where we live the great drama of life. Maybe it is in those times when we feel most alive, most in touch with our eternal purpose. Make no doubt about it, these moments are not just discerned, they must be seized. Bilbos young nephew, Frodo, knew when the kairos moment was calling him. Thats the way kairos moments often present themselves.Challenges, calls, leaps of faith into the great unknown Though sometimes unexplainable, the call is unmistakable. Could there be a cosmic gong? At last with an effort he spoke, and wondered to hear his own words, as if some other will was using his small voice. I will take the Ring, Frodo said, though I do not know the way. Elrond raised his eyes and looked at him, and Frodo matte up his heart pierced by the sudden kee nness of the glance. If I understand aright all that I have heard, he said, I think that this task is appointed for you, Frodo and that if you do not find a way, no one will.This is the hour of the Shire-folk, when they arise from their quiet fields to shake the towers and counsels of the great. Who of all the Wise could have foreseen it? Or, if they are wise, why should they expect to know it, until the hour has struck? But it is a heavy burden. So heavy that none could lay it on another. I do not lay it on you. But if you take it freely, I will say that your choice is right. 9 Lets be very clear, the kairos call is sometimes very challenging. The responsibility of the Ring came upon Frodo unwanted, what seems to happen with kairos calls. Yet, the power lies in what we do with the kairos moment.Reflect on some interchanges between Frodo and Gandalf Frodo I wish the ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened. Gandalf So do all who live to see such times. But that i s not for them to answer. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. There are other forces at work in this world Frodo, besides the will of evil. Bilbo was meant to find the Ring. In which case, you were also meant to have it. And that is an encouraging thought. Frodo I am not made for perilous quests. I wish I had never seen the Ring Why did it come to me? Why was I chosen? Gandalf Such questions cannot be answered.You may be sure that it was not for any merit that others do not possess. (He was just a simple hobbit, after all. ) But you have been chosen, and you must therefore use such strength and heart, and wits as you have. The lading of kairos opportunities can bring consternation. They call us out of our comfort zones. Oh to have wise people, like Gandalf, who listen to our doubts and then remind us of the importance of seizing kairos moments and staying the course Kairos moments are well worth it. The Challenge Lets tweak John Keatings Latin ur ge to a kairos admonition Tempus Occasio Seize the kairos momentEvery human being is love by God and eternally valued. Every human being exists for only a certain amount of kronos time. Thousands of years before The Byrds popular, Turn (To Everything There is a Season), King Solomon wrote There is a time for everything, a season for every activity under heaven. (Ecclesiastes) The Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, uses the word kairos to capture the writers intent. The question is, What will we do with our kronos moments? There is something beyond kronos. There is a time that impacts kronos with such intensity that it can alter the very kronos of a persons life.Every human being is wired with gifts and passions which afford opportunities to make unique impacts. While each of us writes the script of our life, we have been given extraordinary potential to make a difference. Tempus Occasio James W. Moore boldly writes, Kairos time is full time, vital time, crucial time, decisive time, Gods time those rich special moments that break into the tired and change your life those powerful dramatic moments when things seem to fall into place a new perspective comes, and God seems to be speaking loud and clear.That is kairos (Seizing the Moments Making the Most of Lifes Opportunities, p 16) Kairos and the stupefy Moment 10 The young struggling diabetic Shelby, in the movie mark Magnolias (1989) muses, I would rather have thirty minutes of wonderful than a lifetime of nothing special. Kairos moments are waiting to be grasped. There is no better time to apprehend kairos then the exact moment in time in which a person lives the present moment. Simply put, the old is over the future has yet to be written. We have the gift of the present moment in which to live.Will we seize the present moment or passively watch time tick by? The question is far from cavalier. It carries with it the nerve of a care-giver blended with the challenge of a coach. The options are simple but the consequences can lead to great complexities. Either we proactively seize kairos time or we, by choice, choose only to live in kronos time, which tempts us to reshape the past or lures us to bring unwarranted assurances to our future. The later is a tenuous place to live. It leads to limited satisfaction, feeds our control issues, and breeds a lack of contentment.Can you think of a moment in your life which brought great joy to you? Fulfilling a dream, falling in love, the birth of a child? If only that moment could be frozen in time. It cannot. That moment is in the past, a entrepot to which we add other memories which will form the legacy of our lives. That moment is to be remembered and celebrated. It becomes another stitch in the fabric of our lives. It dare not become the entire garment. Recently trine Detroit baseball players from an era long bypast by were featured guests at a local expo.These once starring(predicate) athletes, now plump old men , limped down the stairs to their booth for signing autographs. There seemed to be two types of autograph seekers that day those who wanted a symbol of some of the good ole years and those who were living as if the 84 Tigers just clinched the pennant. They donned jerseys and hats taking the concept of fan to another level. There was a difference from remembering the past and choosing to live in the past. Conversely, can you think of a moment in your life which brought pain or sadness? Was it a poor decision? Someone who hurt you?The loss of someone you love? If only that moment had not happened. It did. That moment is also in the past, and added to our memory. It too, becomes another stitch in the fabric of our lives. It dare not become the entire garment. How many people do you know who live in the past with such intensity that it drives their very decision-making? Rather than choosing to look on the past as a scar, they see it as a development wound. Some even choose to regular ly keep the wound open. That way they can actually use the wound as leverage for exercise or exacting some revenge.Others peel back the scar when it is convenient giving them a good excuse for not taking responsibility for their decisions. The old saying is true, He who ignores history is bound to repeat it. However, there is a great distance between knowing our past and choosing to live in the past. Philosophy majors spar over this concept. Therapists earn a living helping people understand it. It is the crux of how human beings, young and old, choose to live. Will we choose the present moment? This is very practical. let for instance, Brady Quinn, quarterback (2002-2006), The University of Notre hoot 1 Before coach Charlie Weis came to Notre Dame, Brady Quinns development was like a slow, steady drip. Quinn had arrived at Notre Dame as a highly touted quarterback However, he wasnt able to live up to the high expectations during his counterbalance two years in South Bend, IN. With one season of eligibility remaining, Quinn holds nearly every major Notre Dame single-season and career passing record. His improved play has much to do with the Irishs return to a place among the nations elite programs. (Michael Rothstein, ESPN. om, January 2, 2006) Charlie Weiss came to Notre Dames storied program as suburb playing-calling genius with three Super Bowl rings. His pedigree is helping young quarterbacks succeed to massive levels. In an interview, Quinn was asked to describe the zenith of his turnaround, he simply reflected, It all began when I started to believe the coach. What was the coachs oft-repeated mantra to Quinn? Forget the past. Ill worry about your future. Your demarcation is to live in the present moment. If its true for a twenty-something sports phenom judge the stakes from an eternal perspective.What if a person would simply choose to live, just live, in the present moment? Imagine a life of present moment living where authentic behavior is ho ned by the self-disciple, practice, and self-control of the soldierlike artist. Imagine what it would be like to make conscience efforts to let go of all our baggage childhood problems, prejudices, assumptions, interpretations, and projections and being responsive to the moment, appreciating the power of now. Present moment living is both spontaneous and responsible. (Spiritually Intelligent Leadership, Danah Zohar, Leader to Leader, No. 8 Fall 2005) The Bible has specific words for past moments, they are redeemable. I have redeemed you I have called you by take in You are mine Our Heavenly Father, through the power of Christ, offers a life of no-regrets. The slate is wiped clean and He restores in spades that which was lost. That leaves an ominous choice. Either a person can choose to live in the past, listening to all the loud voices which scream of rejection, failure, and unforgiveness or a person can choose to accept the truth which is, each person is eternally loved and Go d wants all people redeemed.Because Christ bought us back, we are offered a life of kairos, a way of life which is about buying back (making the most of) opportunities seizing these moments for the Kingdom of God. Tempus Occasio Kairos Opportunities People who choose kairos living as a way of life not only accept redemption they savour in all that it has to offer. They believe the past is really bought back and they are given a new lease at life. The past is a scar. Kairos people look at the scar and remember how much ameliorate distance there is between the present moment and that scar.They believe with more and more faith each day that God does indeed, make all things new. Therefore to seize kairos is to pluck all the grace the Heavenly Father offers and accept it through faith. Kairos people accept faith as a gift and deliver increase amounts of faith to people they meet. 12 People who choose kairos living as a way of life believe the future is really in good hands Gods hands. Jesus wasnt stretching the truth when he said, Dont worry about tomorrow. It is Gods design that we seek to swear Him with our future.Therefore, kairos people are people of hope. They actually believe the Heavenly Father wants to give them good things and do good things through them. Kairos people put their hope in the One who controls the future and in turn, seeks to deliver increasing amounts of hope to people they meet. People who choose kairos living as a way of life know the Heavenly Father loves them first and in turn, respond by loving God with all their heart, soul, and mind. They know the depth of love they receive and want to give it away to others, thereby, living out the Great Commandments of Jesus.Kairos people love God and love people believe that loving others is directly proportional to how much we love ourselves. Kairos people are people who love, radically and relentlessly and seek to deliver increasing amounts of love to people they meet. Tempus Occasio Conclusio n In the span of every human beings life there are kairos opportunities. You may not be standing in the hallway of a boarding school with John Keating whispering, Carpe Diem But you are standing on the precipice of other kairos opportunities. Tempus occasio You may not be a teenager who is seeking to understand the meaning of life.But you are invited to find purpose and power as you gaze into the face of the One who created you and calls you Beloved, offering you destiny-changing opportunities. Tempus occasio You may not be gazing into the pictures of those who lived a century ago. But you are invited to study the lives of those who have taken their kairos moments and transformed their world. Tempus occasio Are you ready for an adventure? If you listen real close, you can hear opportunity calling. Your legacy is ready to be written. Go on, lean in. Listen, you hear it? Tempus Hear it? Tempus Tempus occasio Seize kairos Make your lives extraordinary. 13