In his book Turtles All the Way Down, the pastor and author Gordon Atkinson tells this story of a group of monks: When Philip Groning wanted to make the documentary “Into Great Silence,” he asked the Carthusian monks at the Grande Chartreuse monastery in France if he might spend a couple of years quietly filming their lives.  They said they would think about it and get back to him.  Sixteen years later he received a letter from them.  They had considered his request and were now ready for him to begin filming. What kind of slow-moving world do these monks inhabit?  Sixteen years in the modern world is time enough for two or even three careers.  Why would these monks assume Philip Groning was still interested in this project or even interested in filming anything at all?  How did they find his address after sixteen years?  Did someone write it on a scrap of paper and keep it in a box all that time? Atkinson’s questions might be our questions as well.  The actions of the monks seem inconsiderate and impractical.  How could anyone get anything done with such behavior; such mismanagement of time?  I for one nearly live and die by my calendar and my watch.  This scenario might drive me crazy. According to the ancient Greeks, there are two different ways to measure time.  The first is the one we’re most familiar with, called chronos time.  This is time measured by minutes and hours, by days, weeks, months, and years, by our “to do” lists, our deadlines, and our impatience.  If nothing else, it can make for efficiency.  It can also make for a great deal of stress. The second way to measure time is known as kairos time.  Kairos is a Greek word meaning “the right moment.”  This form of time doesn’t operate under the pressure of clocks or deadlines, but rather patience and discernment.  One waits to make an important decision until it truly feels right.  For people of faith, kairos time is meant to be guided by the Spirit: one is on the Spirit’s time rather than one’s own.  This is presumably the time that the monks were using when responding to Groning’s request.  Kairos time can and does frustrate a lot of people.  We’re so used to chronos time that waiting on the right moment according to the Spirit is discomforting and foreign to us.  And yet how often might we make rushed, poorly-made decisions?  How often do we insist that God answer us on our timetable rather than God’s own? Summer may afford us more opportunities to live in kairos time.  What might we finally be able to hear the Spirit say? Christ’s peace, Jeff