Of Time and Seasons

Linear vs circular time.

Yesterday, it was 72°under a brilliantly sunny sky. When you ask a runner about the weather, they often say 72° and sunny (ideal state) regardless of the actual condition.

For an avid runner, any circumstance is ideal for a run.

It could have been cloudy and rainy yesterday for all I cared, though, as it turns out, it was perfect circumstances for my first run in nearly a month.

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The ancient Greeks contrasted time by examining it through the lenses of Chronos and Kairos.

Chronos is akin to time as a linear progression of days, weeks, months, and years passing.

Kairos embraces the circular or qualitative essence of time, reminiscent of a winding path that loops back on itself. Think of recurring seasons.

While we will explore linear versus circular time in detail in future conversations, I wanted to give you a glimpse of looking at life through the kairos lens.

Yesterday, on my run, I passed an old farmhouse that I’ve passed hundreds of times.

Last year, on this same day, I took this picture¹ of an ancient sugar maple that stands in the front yard along the running trail.

You can see it was another spectacular fall day.

This is that same tree yesterday.

It's still captivating, though entirely different. It brought to my mind the flames of a fire with the center of the tree a radiant yellow while the edges were tipped with red.

This is the exact same tree on the same day.

This tree has caught my eye for many years, and it has always been scarlet. This year, perhaps because of the drought or warmer start to fall, produced a mix of canary and crimson.

I have ‘circled’ this place and this ‘day’ many times as if walking a winding circular path. Each lap, experiencing the renewal of glimpsing the sugar maple again and in a way for the first time.

1. I carry my phone with me on runs for safety and to occasionally document what I see. Otherwise, I keep it in my water bottle pouch. No music or podcasts. Only the sounds of the run.