Word to the Wise
Friday, September 24, 2010 - Friday in the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time
[Ecclesiastes 3:1-11 and Luke 9:18-22]There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for everything under the heavens.....[Ecclesiastes]
The first scripture today is one of the best known in the Old Testament, and for good reason. It is a poem of beauty and power. Like any good poem, it can be subject to more than one interpretation because it can strike different personalities in different ways. For those who are inclined to be "fatalistic" - believing in blind destiny and predetermined results - the poem simply reaffirms their gloomy outlook. I don't share that outlook but I do find the poem a profound reflection on divine providence. At retreats I often refer to the dual Greek words for time: chronos and kairos. The first of these refers to the passage of time that we measure with the use of clocks and words like seconds, minutes, hours, days, years, etc.. The second refers to "moments" in the sense of "Now's the time to....." or as the old expression has it: "An idea whose time has come..." We speak of the "right time" to do something. Or we say, I'm at a certain "time" of life. This is kairos, and wisdom is necessary for human beings to recognize it. Jesus wept over Jerusalem for its failure to recognize "the time of your visitation." God's providence offers "windows of opportunity" in so many ways in everyday life. However, we can become so focused on material results we can miss the greater opportunity. Our appetites may say, "Grab it while you can!" when the "moment" is not right for doing that in our life. Spiritual directors are often helpful in discerning these "moments" or "times" in God's providence. It is a very good spiritual practice at least once a year to "take stock" and ask oneself: "What time is it?" in my life? The answer could be very important! AMEN
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