The Joy of Numbering Our Days
In verse 12 of Psalm 90 we are reminded to “number our days, that we might gain a heart of wisdom.” I thought of these words as we were in Austin Texas last week to celebrate two graduations – 1 from high school and 1 from college – and to spend time with our youngest son, Kyle and his family outside Houston.
I found myself reflecting on time over and over again. I'm not saying anything you haven't already experienced when I say I was semi shocked by how quickly our granddaughters had grown up. It almost seems like just yesterday when Cinda and I were spending time with our first granddaughter as a six-week-old watching her while her parents went out for a date. And now she is a young college graduate filled with potential and I suspect a very bright future. And then there was our other granddaughter’s graduation from high school, it seems as though she has somehow gone from 3 to 18 overnight. She is most certainly a young woman with definite plans for her future.
These are not new revelations for me, and I am certain there not for you either. We all understand how quickly time goes by. The Greeks had a word for this kind of time, Chronos. This is where we get our word chronology from. It is the kind of time that just keeps on ticking going by and it seems, ever more quickly as we age.
Chronos time has another quality, and that is, it can drag seemingly forever. Have you ever been in a hurry and stuck at a traffic light that seems to take forever to turn green? Chronos time seems to be able to speed up when we would like it to slow down and slow down when we would like it to speed up. It typically leaves us feeling helpless or frustrated.
The Greeks also had another word for time, Kairos. This is the kind of time that is filled with meaning and significance. Kairos is God's time. It is the kind of time that gives our lives meaning, significance, joy, gratitude, wisdom, and purpose. I believe it is this Kairos time that the psalmist is referring to when he instructs us to number our days.
There were many Kairos moments in our week in Texas as well from having a special brunch with Grace our oldest granddaughter, to watching another granddaughter, Ellie, on her riding lesson and seeing the impact of this experience as it shapes her life, to a good-natured game of Domino's with our family in Houston marked by lots of laughter, and many, many, more moments which I will cherish forever.
I think the psalmist is telling us to number our days, not to check them off as we do on a calendar, but to realize that our days are filled with Kairos moments for us to experience. We simply need to be open to their possibility and recognize them in our reflection. We always have this choice available to us.
My prayer for every one of us is that we will each choose to look for the Kairos moments that are a part of every day, that we will recognize them and the gifts and joys they bring.
Grace and Peace, John