Kairos. In the biblical scriptures and other wisdom literature, one repeatedly encounters special situations in which everything changes in a single moment and a surprising turn of events occurs. Even in antiquity, the term "kairos" (Greek: καιρός) was used for this, meaning the "right" or "opportune moment," the favorable hour that should be seized and not missed.
Hundreds of examples of such kairos moments can be found in the Bible, for example in the Hebrew Bible, when Moses seized the opportunity for the exodus from Egyptian forced labor and commanded the Israelites to leave immediately (“Gird up your loins…”), with the unleavened bread illustrating the hasty departure (Exodus 12:11, 39).
Of course, there are many other examples of such kairos moments in the Christian Bible, for example when Jesus called the fishermen on the Sea of Galilee. They immediately left their nets, followed him, and became his disciples.
However, such turning points or pivotal moments can also be missed, as the parable of the ten virgins beautifully illustrates (Matthew 25:1–13). The five foolish virgins hesitate in their preparations for the arrival of Christ and thus miss this Christ moment. The motif of delay points to indecisiveness, lack of trust, or distraction through misplaced priorities. This can lead to remaining stuck in old habits, as the film "Groundhog Day" depicts.
Chronos. The ancient Greeks complemented the qualitative Kairos moment with the quantitative concept of Chronos. This corresponds to the purely temporally experienced, linear sequence of time, namely the "chronicle of ongoing events," figuratively represented as a horizontal arrow of time.
Kairos and Chronos. “Where do Kairos and Chronos meet?” one might ask. The answer is clear: at the focal point of consciousness. Mindfulness and presence, the courage to act decisively, and a certain sense of timing and rhythm combine to form that alertness which doesn't let life's great ideas slip by the wayside.
