Continuing on with the Chronos outlook on life, a Chronos mentality being one that thinks each moment is vital... a "moment wasted is a moment lost" kind of thought. My first thought today is: "Has the Chronos mentality always been around?" I am quite sure if you spend time in research you might find it has, yet from our American culture I found something that makes sense to me...
Time...has evolved in the last 200 years. In today's world we micro manage time, we plan our days in detail by time, and we plan our events in life (vacations, days off )... by the measurements of time. And...we are good at it...making the most of each minute we are given...or at least that is how we rationalize it anyway. So the question again arises: "Has man always guided his life by the measurement of time?" Hmmm?
In America, before the 1800's time seem to play a different role in society, not being so precise or focused on each minute of each day. Even into the early part of the 20th century, this seemed to be a much needed "break"from the everyday affairs of life. I remember my Grandmother telling stories of her childhood and of what church on Sunday was like for her when she was a child...sharing those moments with me while I was still a young boy in the late 1950's. She would describe how she would go to church on Sunday, had lunch with others, spend the afternoon in a park with others of the congregation playing horseshoes, badminton, or learning the art of sewing, knitting, or crocheting. She would tell me how she really enjoyed spending time with friends and her cousins, and in the summer they would have paddle boat races and in the winter sledding competitions. I remember asking her: "Grandma, what time do you start out in the morning and when did you come home?" I will always remember her answer to my question saying: "Oh, we just made a day of it. We didn't really concern ourselves when exactly things would get going and we would simply stay until we had enough...then we would all return home. The thing about those days...we enjoyed ourselves and one another...we learned so much from each other...just spending those Sundays together."
My...how the times have changed...right?
Before the 1800's, time keeping was more of a local event...villages and/or cities designating a person or a "committee" to keep the official time for public awareness...like a public clock of some sort. Medieval Europe often had for each village a town clock maker...a key position for that time period and his/her duties included setting the time according to when the sun would reach it's zenith. As a result, it was not uncommon for different villages to have different times and would need to be adjusted at regular intervals by the local clock maker.
Then, in the 1800's America experienced the railways...and the demand for accuracy with time became of much higher demand. The railways brought the need for correct time for schedule concerns, freight issues, and the delivery of perishables. Because of the growth out west within the United States, time zones became a priority because of daylight hours arriving earlier in the east and later as a person travelled west. The days of the Pony Express were about over...and America was changing with it's time demands. No longer could one say "the mail should be here within a week", instead the demand became "On what day would the mail arrive and what time of day could a person receive it?"
In 1878 a Canadian named Sandford Fleming became a type of national hero dividing the entire world into 24 time zones...which we still use today. As far as the U.S....welcome to the Pacific, Mountain, Central and Eastern time zones.
Now, the idea of each minute of the day became valuable... much more of a reality in American lives and the "Chronos" mentality influenced the daily lives of everyday life. Instead of how my Grandmother described her Sunday events with her church activities with the phrase "we would just make a day of it...", now became a question we are familiar with today: "What exact time does the Sunday event start and at what time will the activities conclude?"
For the Christian today who embraces the Chronos mentality, the railway expansion of the 1800's helped America to have a better value of time and the importance of each minute we are given...to live. There is even Scripture to support the Chronos way of thought...found in the Psalms...Psalm 90:12. It reads:
"Teach us to number our days and to realize the brevity of each moment we live. If we do this, we position ourselves to receive the wisdom of God and live our lives in a godly, precise, and wise manner."
Today we even hear sermons about this like: "Life is about time management", "Our days are numbered", "Make the most of each day you live", or even "Take the time to redeem the time you have".
Yet, I am not convinced this is what life is all about. I think there was something pure about my Grandmother's words: "We would just make a day of it." The thing that kind of bothers me about all this advice about time management and every moment is equally valuable is: "Even when you have done your best to "micro manage" your life, what do you do...how do you rationalize scenes in our lives like hardships, pain, suffering, worry, abandonment, persecution, provocation, loneliness, belittlement, embarrassment, and...failure? If we prepared ourselves and did the preparation (prayer, right attitude, study the Sacred Scripture, etc.), and are expectantly waiting on the wisdom of God...why do these things happen?
For myself, I certainly appreciate the Chronos mentality, yet with every moment considered equally valuable in the Chronos way of thought...aren't we missing something...those "special moments" the "Kairos" mentality...which takes us from the mundane moments of life and brings a miraculous moment?...the unexpected?...stuff that no amount of preparation can prepare us for. I think we need those times in life where we are in need of "...just make a day of it" like my Grandmother spoke of...and deal with those heartfelt hurts and scenes in our lives that the "Chronos" mentality cannot supply.
When Jesus went to raise Lazarus from the dead...Lazarus was already 4 days dead.....hmmm?
More to come.........
Time...has evolved in the last 200 years. In today's world we micro manage time, we plan our days in detail by time, and we plan our events in life (vacations, days off )... by the measurements of time. And...we are good at it...making the most of each minute we are given...or at least that is how we rationalize it anyway. So the question again arises: "Has man always guided his life by the measurement of time?" Hmmm?
In America, before the 1800's time seem to play a different role in society, not being so precise or focused on each minute of each day. Even into the early part of the 20th century, this seemed to be a much needed "break"from the everyday affairs of life. I remember my Grandmother telling stories of her childhood and of what church on Sunday was like for her when she was a child...sharing those moments with me while I was still a young boy in the late 1950's. She would describe how she would go to church on Sunday, had lunch with others, spend the afternoon in a park with others of the congregation playing horseshoes, badminton, or learning the art of sewing, knitting, or crocheting. She would tell me how she really enjoyed spending time with friends and her cousins, and in the summer they would have paddle boat races and in the winter sledding competitions. I remember asking her: "Grandma, what time do you start out in the morning and when did you come home?" I will always remember her answer to my question saying: "Oh, we just made a day of it. We didn't really concern ourselves when exactly things would get going and we would simply stay until we had enough...then we would all return home. The thing about those days...we enjoyed ourselves and one another...we learned so much from each other...just spending those Sundays together."
My...how the times have changed...right?
Before the 1800's, time keeping was more of a local event...villages and/or cities designating a person or a "committee" to keep the official time for public awareness...like a public clock of some sort. Medieval Europe often had for each village a town clock maker...a key position for that time period and his/her duties included setting the time according to when the sun would reach it's zenith. As a result, it was not uncommon for different villages to have different times and would need to be adjusted at regular intervals by the local clock maker.
Then, in the 1800's America experienced the railways...and the demand for accuracy with time became of much higher demand. The railways brought the need for correct time for schedule concerns, freight issues, and the delivery of perishables. Because of the growth out west within the United States, time zones became a priority because of daylight hours arriving earlier in the east and later as a person travelled west. The days of the Pony Express were about over...and America was changing with it's time demands. No longer could one say "the mail should be here within a week", instead the demand became "On what day would the mail arrive and what time of day could a person receive it?"
In 1878 a Canadian named Sandford Fleming became a type of national hero dividing the entire world into 24 time zones...which we still use today. As far as the U.S....welcome to the Pacific, Mountain, Central and Eastern time zones.
Now, the idea of each minute of the day became valuable... much more of a reality in American lives and the "Chronos" mentality influenced the daily lives of everyday life. Instead of how my Grandmother described her Sunday events with her church activities with the phrase "we would just make a day of it...", now became a question we are familiar with today: "What exact time does the Sunday event start and at what time will the activities conclude?"
For the Christian today who embraces the Chronos mentality, the railway expansion of the 1800's helped America to have a better value of time and the importance of each minute we are given...to live. There is even Scripture to support the Chronos way of thought...found in the Psalms...Psalm 90:12. It reads:
"Teach us to number our days and to realize the brevity of each moment we live. If we do this, we position ourselves to receive the wisdom of God and live our lives in a godly, precise, and wise manner."
Today we even hear sermons about this like: "Life is about time management", "Our days are numbered", "Make the most of each day you live", or even "Take the time to redeem the time you have".
Yet, I am not convinced this is what life is all about. I think there was something pure about my Grandmother's words: "We would just make a day of it." The thing that kind of bothers me about all this advice about time management and every moment is equally valuable is: "Even when you have done your best to "micro manage" your life, what do you do...how do you rationalize scenes in our lives like hardships, pain, suffering, worry, abandonment, persecution, provocation, loneliness, belittlement, embarrassment, and...failure? If we prepared ourselves and did the preparation (prayer, right attitude, study the Sacred Scripture, etc.), and are expectantly waiting on the wisdom of God...why do these things happen?
For myself, I certainly appreciate the Chronos mentality, yet with every moment considered equally valuable in the Chronos way of thought...aren't we missing something...those "special moments" the "Kairos" mentality...which takes us from the mundane moments of life and brings a miraculous moment?...the unexpected?...stuff that no amount of preparation can prepare us for. I think we need those times in life where we are in need of "...just make a day of it" like my Grandmother spoke of...and deal with those heartfelt hurts and scenes in our lives that the "Chronos" mentality cannot supply.
When Jesus went to raise Lazarus from the dead...Lazarus was already 4 days dead.....hmmm?
More to come.........
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