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What Is Kairos Time and How It Can Make History
Being in the right place, at the right time, and saying the right things can create significant change in society.
Kairos. I often hear people say it’s a kairos moment and wonder what it means. After doing a word study, I discovered the definition of kairos (Greek) is an opportune or special time to say, write, or do something at the right moment.
The instant you knew that the words you spoke or wrote, or your actions had an impact on someone’s life.
Once I understood what kairos time is, I realized it unfolds as pivotal points in our lives along the timeline of our history. It can be a conscious decision, or it is often seen as the function of a Higher Power.
However you perceive it; a kairos time can impact our nation collectively, influence political movements, and even affect individual lives.
Gettysburg Address
On November 19, 1863, Abraham Lincoln delivered a short two-minute speech at a battlefield cemetery honoring the 23,000 men who perished during the Battle of Gettysburg. As Pres. Lincoln drafted the Gettysburg Address; he saw this as a kairos moment to speak to the country as a whole. Lincoln used that moment to convey a time he envisioned the nation’s new birth of freedom.
However, the people were forlorn and wartorn, and Lincoln gave them something to believe in. He presented them with a sense of a higher purpose and a moral action to fight for the freedom of African-Americans and the unity of the country. Even though today, some are suspect of Lincoln’s motives, this kairos event stands as a historical tenet of our democracy.
Letter From a Birmingham Jail
The second example of a kairos moment is Dr. Martin Luther King’s Letter From a Birmingham Jail. Dr. King penned this work in response to eight white ministers who questioned his direct action approach to the Civil Rights Movement. Not having read the letter in its entirety until recently, I’m amazed at the power and force of the words.
For example, Dr. King wrote, “An injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” which still rings true…
