The Hour Glass

Today’s thought is about time. I never seem to have enough of it, do you? The real issue, however, is not the quantity of time, but our use of it. The simple fact remains that Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison and Abraham Lincoln all had the same amount of time each day as you and I. Perhaps they just used it better. To that end, allow me to introduce you to two of the lessor Greek gods who helped to shape our historical concepts of time. First there is Khronos, the Greek god of time. From a variation on his name, Chronos, we get the root word for our modern measurement of time, as in chronometer. The concept of Khronos is also where we get the original notion of old father time. The time represented here is chronological and linear time, which marches forward in measurable increments. However, the Greeks had another notion of time as well. It was represented by the god Kairos, who was the youngest immortal child of Zeus. Kairos represented the time of god-given opportunity. He was a smallish being and had no hair on head except for a pony tail in the front. The concept was that as he ran past you could only catch him by grabbing the hair on the front of his head. Once he got by you there was nothing to grab hold of. Opportunity, therefore, had to be recognized and grabbed as it approached or it would be lost forever. Where are we going with this? The point is that there are two kinds of time. We all have the same amount of chronos, or measured time. What allows people to accomplish great and meaningful things, however, is how they respond to kairos, or opportunity time. I believe with all my heart that life, I will go so far as to say God, places endless opportunities before us, but we must choose to grab hold of them before they slip away forever. Now opportunity can mean financial, but there are a hundred opportunities a day simply to become a better human being and make the world a better place as well. May we all become more adept in recognizing opportunity when it comes knocking ... and perhaps a little more courageous.

The Hour Glass
In a never ending process
Like the tides rush from a bay
The sand pours through the hour glass
And the seconds tick away
From sunrise on to sunset
And then sunset once again
The days march by relentlessly
With no regard for men
Season after season comes
And goes without a trace
The measure of the passing years
Like wrinkles on a face
And still the sands of time fall down
Within the hour glass
Each represents a moment lost
We dare not let them pass
By Frank Carpenter ©