Living in Kyros Time
“I can go faster alone but we can go further together” ~ Unknown
I am a multitasker. I like to get things done, check it off my list, and move on. Living in community slows me down. Daily rhythms move to the beat of Kairos time [an ancient Greek word meaning the right or opportune moment]. I’ve had to leave chronos time behind and enter into “In His time”. Things still get done here but at a very different pace. It’s neither fast nor slow. It’s one thing at a time.
Like eating. People just eat when they eat here. All other distractions submit to the joy of sharing a meal together. We eat rice with our hands, dip chapatti in masala and tell of taste buds entertained by the shock of unfamiliar spices. We stop to have tea. We connect. We laugh.
Everyone shares the road; white hatchback Suzuki’s, paint chipped public buses, three wheel tuck-tucks, large and small animals, families of five piled on 125 CC mopeds and motorcycles, pedestrians walking their peddle bikes through intersections, women balancing bags of rice on their head, etc. Constant noise. Endless movement. Coming and going in different directions. The speed limit is ‘fast’ and the only traffic rule is ‘honk’.
Days are full and memorable. It’s difficult to describe a place so foreign to what I’ve known. The smells that meet the air and the noise that fills the street; the food that tickles my tastebuds and the tea that soothes my soul. I’ve got dirt between my nails and itchy bug bites on my toes. I use squatty potties and take bucket showers. I sleep in a tent in a room where roosters crow outside my window.
India is nothing like home but I feel at ‘home’. In India, community is not found in the busyness of multitasking but in the simplicity of connection.
There is beauty in a handshake and mystery in a smile. Joy in a song and power in tears. Laughter is as colourful as sarees and smiles contagious and free. Effortless and free flowing. Beautiful and full of beauty. This kind of connection transcends the boundaries of language and breaks through expectations of familiar.
It hit me yesterday when an elderly woman approached me after a service. She took my hand, placed it on her shoulder and motioned for me to pray for her. Immediately compassion filled tears welled up in my eyes as I looked into hers.
My hand started to tingle as it rested on her shoulder. I simply kept it in place and agreed with what God was doing until she looked up and smiled. We hugged, laughed and wiped the tears from each other’s eyes. This happened again the next day and the next; the Holy Spirit breaking through barriers and communicating beyond human understanding.
I wish I had a picture of these women so you could share in the blessing of their beauty. These brief encounters are frequent and have touched me deeply. Pray that I remain in the fullness of this Kairos time where connection creates the space for many more stories to be captured and carried in depths of my heart.
It is hard to believe this is just the beginning!
[Internet connectivity is sparse for us this month… more blogs and video to come!]
