Today I reflect on the idea of time. We often ask, “What time is it?” When asking this we are referring to time that has its roots in the earth’s position in relation to the sun. This is measurable time. The biblical Greek word for measurable time is chronos. We use chronometers (watches or clocks) to know where we are in relation to the rotation of the earth. This measurable time is the most common use of the word time. However, there are other uses of the word ‘time’ that tend to be more abstract and are more difficult to measure.
There is the time that one might call relative time. Relative time is the experience of time in relation to sum of the all the time one has lived. Do you remember when you were five years old and how long it took Christmas to make its way back. Chronologically speaking, the 25th of December seemed to arrive on the back of a turtle. While the sun is the benchmark for measuring one Christmas to the next, our experience of the length it takes for Christmas to arrive is related to the number of years we have lived. At five years old one year is 20% of our life; at 50 years old a year is only 2% of our life. This an explanation of why it seems Christmas a long time in coming to a five year old and too soon here to a 50 year old. The hours, days and months have not changed; our experience of those hours, days and months has changed.
To those of you who have watched hummingbirds come to a feeder, I ask if have you ever tried to touch one with your hand? It is an impossible task. Hummingbirds have a heartbeat that is over 1200 beats per minute. Their metabolic rate is 15 to 20 times faster than humans. To the hummingbird we are moving about 15-20 times slower than they are moving. To them we are large slow moving creatures. This effect one might ca metabolic time. Metabolic time is measured by movement due to metabolism within measurable time period. The higher the metabolism the slower time seems to move. The lower the metabolism the faster time seems to move. As we age our metabolic rate slows, thus time seems to speed up. That is one reason why time appears to gallop into the future when we are older. Metabolic time and relative time are the kissing cousins of aging.
Another form of time in the Scriptures is found in the Greek word Kairos. Often referred to as ‘God’s time,’ kairos connotes a perfect time. Kairos is about timing. We might say, “The cavalry arrived just in time (kairos) to rescue us.” Kairos is perfect time. “In the fullness of time, God sent his Son.”
We also use this kairos time to connote the appropriate time. This kairos time has an existential element to it. It is time that takes into account of our living in chronos and our experience of relative time and metabolic time. Weighing these factors we might come to the conclusion that now is the time.
Kairos.
Now is the time. I have served as the installed pastor of Alamo Heights Presbyterian Church for over 40 years. When the Bible uses the number 40, it means a long time. I have been coming to grips with the fact that metabolic time has caught me and passed me. I find that it takes twice as long to accomplish one-half as much. This is the nature of life: we slow down. Things I used to remember, I now have to fact-check. Sometimes I feel like a 100 year-old man trying to catch a two year-old hummingbird. Not much chance of my catching it. It is time for a younger, more vibrant person to lead you.
On September 8, the Session has called a congregational meeting to dissolve my pastoral commitment with AHPC effective January 1, 2025. This gives us time to say our good-byes. This decision has been a difficult one for me. I have loved this congregation and have been loved by it. But it is time.
I will continue with more reflections about our time together in later news-letters .
By the way, we will have after worship luncheon on September 29. I hope you can join us.
Grace to all,
Richard