The Kairos

Kairos is a term from Greek philosophy that roughly means “the right time.” It refers to a point in time that is propitious for a meaningful event to happen, an event that changes the course of history.
    Every generation feels that it lives at such a time. In some respect they are correct. Because things are always changing, we confront the potential for change at every moment. We often ignore this potential for reasons of insecurity or comfort or lack of vision. Nevertheless it is always there to some degree. When it isn’t ignored, it leads to change, either good or bad, or a mixture of both.
    A Kairos occurs when various factors meet and initiate a grand transformation. In my attempt to write a modern rendition of the Prose Lancelot, I incorporated the idea of Kairos to explain the almost magical rise of King Arthur, chivalry and the Round Table Knights, who then influenced the course of western civilization. This change holds true, whether or not you think King Arthur ever existed. It was the literature that initiated change. The literature would not have done so, however, if people were not hungry for its idealism.
    In the United States, the fortuitous coming together of its founders, Jefferson, Adams, Washington, Franklin and others, to create a constitutional democracy, can also be viewed as a Kairos. It was a culmination of Age of Enlightenment ideals that could not have happened twenty years earlier or twenty years later – or even today for that matter. Circumstances favorable to freedom and democracy converged that produced significant results. Because of these efforts, the world would never be the same.
    Mohandas Gandhi initiated a liberation movement in India that was largely successful because of the time and circumstances in which it arose. The message of Martin Luther King Jr. resonated because people of conscience were ready to hear it and fight for change. The so-called Axial Age, when important religious leaders and philosophers suddenly appeared during the 4th Century B.C.E., was no accident. All these incidents and more can be considered Kairos events. The times were ready and called for a leap of consciousness. One might think of it as part of our evolutionary process.
    As stated earlier, the potential for change is always present. The question then becomes this: Are the circumstances right to initiate a Kairos event today? Another question follows: Can we consciously facilitate the process through our own efforts and awareness?
    I am not referring to some mystical force at play that controls our lives or that we need to tap into. I’m referring to natural human development, augmented by the rational mind.
    Like many of our ancestors, we live in what we perceive as the best and worst of times. That’s because life continually has its ups and downs. We are happy one moment, frustrated the next. How could it be different?
    Although our ancestors experienced the same roller coaster of emotions, they could hardly foresee the bustling world we live in today. There have always been wars and conflict, but never did we have weapons that killed with such efficiency and ease. Never could we point at technology and know that, through weapons or pollution, we have the capacity to destroy all life on earth. Never before were the peoples of the world so connected and integrated. Never before were conflicting values so dangerously poised. Never before was our own culture so in jeopardy from a lack of idealism and prevalence of greed.
    The answers we talk about for our problems today are superfically unrealistic. We cannot grow our economy to the point of saving us from war, pollution and a Clash of Ideologies. We cannot kill all those whom we perceive as threatening our way of life. We cannot rejuvenate our government through lobbyists and corrupt politicians. We cannot enjoy the benefits of national wealth based on deficit spending.
    The truth is that national and global problems are growing and converging to the point of world crisis. Serious problems like never before, including environmental pollution, terrorism, and widespread poverty.
    Are meaningful answers coming together as well?
    Yes. But far too slowly.
    If we have learned anything from the past few years, we have hopefully learned not to trust illusions. Democracy only works when the heart of democracy is alive, when people respond to it with careful reasoning, and not blind party loyalty. We have grown to distrust the same old rhetoric and status quo. We’ve learned to question when leaders tell us that everything is all right, as they pull the carpet from under us. We see war differently from the prideful, nationalistic fervor of previous ages. There are people speaking out about global warming, and still others who are doing something about it. Clichés no longer satisfy. Obscene wealth, juxtaposed against extreme poverty is looking more obscene than ever.
    Despite all our creature comforts, entertainment and distractions, we are dissatisfied, unfulfilled, even existentially distraught. We long for authenticity, for meaningful expression of who we are at the core. We want our lives to be significant in a world that labels us as consumers of goods, led around easily by the nose. Commercials, billboards, flashing signs, junk mail, spam, telemarketers. Cell phone interruptions obliterate time for contemplation. Most telling of all, we come to the point of watching reality television for our taste reality, as if life itself can only be funneled to us through technology.
    The smoldering dissatisfaction that most of us feel is part of the answer. It is converging with serious global crises and readying our souls to respond to something better. Whatever solution comes our way, it probably won’t happen on its own. We have to make it happen. We have to resurrect viable ideals, heal our broken culture, stand up for what is right, while no longer tolerating what is wrong.
    In other words, we are being called by the Kairos to become champions for truth.
    Responding to the Kairos as a new form of knighthood is what Chivalry-Now is all about.

Consider:

• Chivalry-Now inspires us to think for ourselves in a world that profits from manipulating our thoughts.
• It honors truth in a world suffering from illusion.
• It spurs us to right what is wrong.
• It calls for new idealism, based not on the past but on our own inner light.
• It resists greed.
• It looks upon the culmination of the Kairos as our highest challenge.

Chivalry-Now is the mobilization of human potential within a framework of freedom. It incorporates the virtues of reason, compassion and good will.
    How could it not be a tool of the Kairos, whether you believe that the Kairos is religiously instigated, an unexplainable matter of destiny, or just a logical response to save the world from our mistakes?
    I therefore call upon this fellowship to see that our work is cut out for us. We have a mission as warriors of the Kairos. We must now consider what that means, and how we initiate proper change