In 1969, the rock band Chicago released a song that began with the question, “Does anybody really know what time it is? Does anybody really care?”
On the surface, we know the answer to that first question with more accuracy today than any time in human history. Formerly, our ancestors told time in terms of whether the sun was up or down, whether it was planting time or harvest time. Later, it became sufficient to know the approximate hour of the day, whether it was before noon or afternoon, evening or nightfall. Today, we demand precision, and atomic clocks fit the bill by keeping time with the greatest accuracy.
“Does anybody really know what time it is? Does anybody really care?” Sacred Scripture asks us to ponder the same question that Chicago asked, but from a different perspective, not in terms of seconds ticking on a clock, but in terms of meaning.
Sacred Scripture has two words for time. One is “chronos,” which means time that can be measured in minutes, hours, days, etc. The other is “kairos,” which means time that can be defined in terms of importance.
It has been said that the measure of life is not in terms of the number of breaths we take (chronos), but in terms of the moments that take our breath away (kairos).
In chronos time, an 80-year-old is old and a 40-year-old is young. But in kairos time, the 80-year-old’s life may be full of moments rich in service to others, generosity and love. On the other hand, the 40-year-old may have been living a life largely limited to self-serving moments. So then, the 80-year-old may be said to be young and flourishing, while the 40-year-old is old and decrepit. You may be older or younger than you think!
So, it is in the sense of kairos, moments rich in meaning, that we ask once again the question, “Does anybody really know what time it is? Does anybody really care?”
Saint Paul tells us that it is wake-up time – time rich in importance – because we are closer to our salvation than when we first believed. So, he continues, “Throw off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.” (Rom 13:11-12)
In the Gospel according to Saint Matthew, Jesus tells us, “Stay awake! For you do not know the day when your Lord will come.” (24:42)
The point is, as Christians celebrating Advent – that is, anticipating the second coming of Christ – we become more and more aware of the time God has allotted to us on earth as kairos, moments rich in meaning. We want to become increasingly more aware of the potential greatness of the moments divinely gifted to us, moments which, on the surface, seem just ordinary. We don’t want to fumble those precious moments so that when the end of our time comes, all we are left with is a pitiful pile of self-centered moments.
It’s Advent, it’s wake-up time, and the clock is ticking away for you and for me.
Father Edward Kolla is a retired priest of the Diocese of Camden.
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