Time

  I went to visit Russ today, and he said something that made me think.  When telling a story (if you're ever in need of a good story, just go listen to Russ!), he mentioned a guy who was just living in his own time--the kind of time, he described it as, 'you can't tell with any clock from the jeweler'.

  This got me thinking about a conversation Eugene Peterson had about the difference between chronos time and kairos time, the latter being God's time.  Our chronos time, the time we're used to here on earth, is time we just use up.  Often, we fill it with things to do, some meaningful, others not as much, but overall a day slips by and we wonder where it went.

  Kairos time is God's time.  This is time we don't have a say in.  This is time we experience.  It's God at work in the world.  It's much bigger than we are.

  The problem is, we so often orient ourselves by the world's time, rushing to meet the demands of a chaotic world, that we don't pay attention to what God is doing.  We get so caught up in our own schedules, we don't notice that God has a different schedule.

  We need to slow down, to reset our clocks, so that we're oriented to God's time, rather than our own.

  I think about time spent watching Caleb.  He's 5 months old now, and still doesn't move around much on his own--but I can only experience him growing up.  I can't slow it down, can't freeze him, can't keep him at this stage--he'll grow up before my very eyes, and all I can do is wonder at the process and join in, being present with him every step of the way, loving him for the child of God that he is.

  What else in the world am I missing?  Where is God at work that I'm too busy to see?  Where is God leading the church, only we are so busy with our things to do that we can't see it?  How has God been speaking in such a way, but my own life is so loud that I can't hear him?

  For the wisdom and courage to slow down, to live a life that seeks to pay attention to God, rather than myself, I pray.