Kairos

Today, as promised, we are going to take a little look at Palestinian liberation theology.

Specifically, we're going to look at the document Kairos II.

Let's start with a quote from Kairos II, a couple quotes.

We are witnesses to the resurrection and to the empty tomb from which the light of life burst forth.

We believe that the final word belongs not to death, but to life.

Not to injustice, but to truth.

We look toward the day when we shall live free in our land, together with all the inhabitants of the earth, in true peace and reconciliation, founded upon justice and equality for all God's creation, where mercy and truth meet, and righteousness and peace kiss each other.

So the document Kairos Palestine II is actually in the news lately because in July of this year, the Church of England General Synod voted to, quote unquote, hear and engage with the Kairos Palestine documents, including Kairos Palestine II, expressing solidarity with Palestinian Christians amid intense public debate and criticism from Jewish leaders.

That figure has a name.

His name is Kairos.

And he is the god of the right moment, not time in general, per se.

The Greeks had a different god for that and a different word as well, chronos.

Kronos is measured time.

It's the same everywhere, right? An hour in a waiting room is the same length as an hour with your grandchildren or at a baseball game.

That's the whole point of Kronos, that it's uniform and indifferent, and you can put it on a schedule and divide it among people fairly, okay? Kairos is the opposite kind of thing.

It isn't a length, it's more of a shape.