Kairos and Crucible



 I have written about kairos, God’s time, and crucibles, intense chambers where heat and tension forge something new, but re-exploring the presentation of Christ in the temple and praying Simeon’s nunc dimitis, now I depart, offered a deepening of the relationship between these two words and a renewed hope. Kairotic Crucibles!

Sometimes there are moments, like Simeon and Anna experienced in the temple with the Christ child, when we are rewarded, if we show up and remain, with a revelation of the Mystery. Sometimes if we lean into the crucible’s discomfort and intensity and realize the true meaning of kairos, opportunity, we glimpse a new dimension of God’s love and power. In that glimpse we realize that we too have that love, we too have the power and possibility of compassion. 


Nunc Dimitis

Lord you now have set your servant free

To go in peace as you have promised

For these eyes of mine have seen the Saviour 

Whom You have prepared for all the world to see,

A Light to enlighten the nations

And the glory of your people Israel.


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