Iconic physicist, Albert Einstein, published his theory of special relativity in the early 1900s. Most of us have heard of this theory, but neither know or care what it says or means. I find myself leaning more towards the former than the latter. I don’t fully understand Einstein’s theory, and to be completely honest, don’t know that I have the intellectual capacity or attention span to do so. But, I am very interested in portions of his theory. I am particularly interested in the relativity of time.
Einstein theorized that the faster an object is moving, the more slowly it experienced time. Anybody who has taken a long family trip by car understands this reality to some extent. I’m not sure of the mathematical formula, but I’m positive that there is a relationship between the number of family members in the vehicle, the distance traveled, the amount of pressure applied to the gas pedal, and the passage of time. The harder one lays on the gas, the faster one moves, but the more slowly time seems to pass.
It would appear, then, that what makes time relative is not just the speed at which one is traveling, but the perceived magnitude of a given moment.
While Einstein’s theory is very interesting, and has been proven to be true to some degree, what makes the passage of time relative is the experience and perspective of those in a given moment. All of us, to greater or lesser degrees, have experienced the phenomenon of the relativity of time. As was mentioned in the example above, when traveling to a favorite vacation spot, time seems to pass incredibly slowly. When you are actually at the vacation spot, enjoying all it has to offer, time seems to pass more quickly. When one is waiting on the birth of a child, time seems to drag on. Once that child is born, though some seasons seem to take longer than others, 18 years pass in a flash. It would appear, then, that what makes time relative is not just the speed at which one is traveling, but the perceived magnitude of a given moment.
The experiential relativity of time has been known and communicated throughout history. I recently read a book entitled Reading the Times: A Literary and Theological Inquiry into the News by Jeffery Bilbro. In chapter four of this book, Dr. Bilbro discusses, at length, two common words for time in biblical Greek. Those words are kairos and chronos. He writes, “Kairos refers to the propitious time, time that is right for a certain act – the time to plant or harvest a crop, for instance. Kairos time is rhythmic, cyclical, seasonal. Chronos, as its English derivative chronological indicates, is closer to our modern understanding of time. This is time as quantifiable duration, as something that is linear and sequential.” Kairos, then, is just the right time for the right thing.
An example of our understanding of this measure of time would be our understanding that fall is the right time for Friday night lights and Pumpkin Spice lattes or our hostility at Christmas decorations being sold during said season. Chronos, on the other hand, is the ticking of a clock. It is our seconds, minutes, days, months, and years. Chronos provides us with an exact measure through which we can understand our time, but kairos provides us with a means to understand the important moments where the flow of time seems to be broken as something of significance happens and influences our experience of that time.
The truth is that both forms of time are constantly at work. As you read this article, time is continually passing. More or less, five minutes of your life passed while you read. At the same time, we are constantly dealing with different seasons that further define our time. COVID-19 has been a long season. It is a reality that broke into our experience of time and will ultimately define our understanding of the last two years in many ways. The clock will continue to tick time away and different moments, happenings, and seasons will continue to interrupt and ignite that time, making it feel faster or slower.
the Bible shows us over and over that God is with us through each passing moment, but also that God breaks in and moves in marvelous ways “at just the right time.”
In the midst of it all, the Bible shows us over and over that God is with us through each passing moment, but also that God breaks in and moves in marvelous ways “at just the right time.” Romans 5:8 tells us that, “At just the right time,” Jesus died for us. God continues to make His grace and salvation available to us. In order for us to experience it, however, we must be open to the in-breaking of His power and presence. In II Corinthians 6:2, it tells us that “now is the TIME of God’s favor, now is the DAY of salvation.”
I find this thought encouraging, particularly as the season of sickness continues to hover over us like the thick clouds of winter. We need some light to break into the darkness of division and disconnection that defines our days. My hope and prayer is that during this difficult season, we will call out to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith and the object of our hope, and that He will break into our experience, bringing new meaning to these times, and that time would slow as we experience a season of salvation, at just the right time.
