There are two kinds of time: kairos and chronos.
Each day we count is counted in chronos time.
We have used up twenty four hours and 1,440 minutes of our life are gone.
It is past and done. It will never come again.
Each sunset we watch is watched in kairos time.
The colors of a sunset are indistinguishable.
It is like painting the sky with a melted rainbow:
red, orange, yellow, pink, violet mixed in a wild melange of colors,
before turning into purple, then deep blue and black and finally the dark night.
Sunsets are not counted by minutes but by the colors turning into darkness.
Today is the start of the new liturgical year, the beginning of Advent.
The calendar year is reckoned in chronos time.
By December 31st, the year 2017 will be over and done with forever.
The liturgical year is based on kairos time.
Next year, Advent will come again to remind us that
even in the depths of winter, the seeds of a new spring are sprouting.
Nature never hurries and still everything gets done in the fullness of time.
Advent is not counted in days or minutes,
for Advent can take anywhere between 28 and 35 days to happen.
But in those days, the unfolding of the the new life that spring delivers
is surely taking place.
Chronos time is about my age, the years I have lived and the years I still have to live.
Kairos time is about my moments that I treasure and can make happen again and again.