Three Cents Column by Director Bong

Three Cents Column by Director Bong of RGO 24! 'Although I am lacking and my writing is only worth as much as 'three cents...' I share the Sunday messages and interpret them with 'the language of the world.''

칼럼_연재칼럼_Three Cents Column

How to discern the ‘times’ and succeed

 

 


Chronos and Kairos

  In Greek, there are two words that describe time, chronos (χρόνος) and kairos (καιρός). Chronos signifies physical time--the sun rising and setting or the coming and going of seasons. On the other hand, kairos signifies conscious and subjective time, so it is linked strongly with ‘[the idea of] opportunity.’ Within the physical time that flows according to the laws of nature, at the moment when something in life takes on a special meaning, [that time] becomes ‘kairos.’ 


  This week’s message mentioned about ‘time.’ It stated that when we catch [a time of] ‘kairos’ within the time of chronos, our life becomes successful. However, ‘time’ does not adjust to people, but it flows adjusting to the Heavens. Therefore, it comes and goes regardless of whether people know or not. 

Three opportunities

  People say that everyone is given three opportunities. There is the opportunity that comes at the beginning of a task, there is the opportunity that comes during the process, when a person is involved in the task and is trying to make things work out more ideally, and finally, there is the opportunity that comes at the time when the work is successful and is nicely wrapped up.

  Even if we understand time well, if we miss the right time, it is meaningless. Even though we learn that the time to sow seeds has come through feeling the warm breeze, if for any reason we miss it, we will be left regretting in an empty field with nothing to harvest in the fall. 



In order to discern the ‘times’ and succeed...


  Then, what do we need to discern the ‘times’ and succeed? 

1. Recognition: Steve Jobs (1955 - 2011) recognized [that this time was] the time of IT. The frequency of information devices being used in people's lives was increasing and the technology of the devices was also improving.

2. Insight: In addition, by looking at the flow of ‘the times’ with this insight, he understood that relevant devices were rising from the floor to the desk, from people’s knees to their palms, and eventually to [other parts of] their bodies.

3. Action: Based on that, he found Apple corporation’s [time of] opportunity (kairos). Then, by manufacturing the products that were related to what he saw through his insight and selling them, he captured success with his hands.  


  Another young man named Mark Zuckerberg (1984 - current) recognized ‘the times’ by realizing that people were creating networks through IT. He had ‘insight’ into what types of networks people preferred, and by ‘building’ a new platform called ‘Facebook,’ he became a world-renowned success story. In this way, in order to discern the ‘time’ and succeed, you need to be equipped with  ‘recognition,’ ‘insight,’ and appropriate and sufficient ‘action.’ The secret of success is to discern ‘chronos,’ and find ‘the kairos’ in it, and ‘take action.’


  This week’s message urged us to find kairos--the historical meaning of this time period and the special relationship it has with our lives--by deeply thinking about what time (chronos) it is now that religious history has gone beyond its 6000th year. Also, the message encouraged us to ‘take action perfectly’ with continuous effort once we find kairos. I hope that we will achieve perfect success while giving thanks to the Holy Trinity who have given us ‘this time’ of tremendous opportunity as ‘the greatest blessing.’




 


 



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