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A Kairos in the Making? We live in times when incredible opportunities are making themselves known. There is a concept in Chivalry-Now called “Kairos.” If you’ve read about it on our website, or in The Deeper Quest, you are probably familiar with it. If not, it refers to transformational events in history that strongly and abruptly advanced the development of human nature. More precisely, it points to the convergence of diverse circumstances that make a great transformation happen. Indeed, the word “Kairos” is translated as “the right time,” brought about by the converging of unique circumstances. It does not just fall from the sky. It is provoked by the confrontation of what is happening at the time. It is the response to conflict and cooperation and the head-butting of ideas. Unique individuals might lead the way, such as Moses, Socrates, Plato, Epicurus, Jesus, Lao Tzu, Buddha, and a whole generation of Enlightenment philosophers. The resulting Kairos changes the spiritual evolution of humanity toward conscience and truth. We need to recognize that Kairos events, although rare, do happen. Human evolution depends on them. Unfortunately, they cannot be predicted with any certainty. The most we can do is observe events on the world stage and wonder where the currents of the times will lead, who will lead them, and who will fall aside as being obsolete. When we look on the world stage today, it seems obvious that circumstances, good and bad, call for a much-needed transformation. Unending wars still plague areas of ethnic and religious conflicts. Ignoble leaders of powerful nations threaten us all with the possibility of nuclear annihilation. (Think of how few they are compared to the vast majority who just want to live in peace—and yet we keep them in power. Why?) Equality remains elusive. Prejudice is stubbornly preserved for no good reason at all. Media purveyors of hate are richly rewarded for the division they foster. Totally unworthy candidates are voted into office for all the wrong reasons by a votary who, by doing so, shirks their responsibilities. A popular obsession with violence continues to expresses itself in deranged acts of mass murder that some in the status quo seek to protect. The many boons of science, from which we all can benefit immensely, are being grossly misused by the bitter and the greedy. The Earth itself is rebelling as willful ignorance contends with prudent caution over climate change. If we are lucky, the converging of all these circumstances is setting the stage for a Kairos event. It was my hope that Chivalry-Now would contribute to that somehow, but it is impossible to know what will serve as the final catalyst. I thought that the incredible threat of climate change might be the ticket. It should have been. I thought that people would get so disgusted with all the lies and corruption in politics that reason would lead them toward positive change. I was wrong again. The Women’s March of 2017 looked promising, but only went so far. But all this was laying the groundwork for what would follow. Something big is happening right now, and we need to make way for it. When young people came forward to speak out against gun violence, and, perhaps more decisively, those in power callously refused to act on their behalf, everything changed. We now find an entirely new generation, intelligent, idealistic, uncorrupted and unhampered by past prejudices, highly motivated and well-prepared to challenge the status quo who can completely change things for the better. These young people are shaming the generation that is presently in control, and I heartily applaud them. They are, after all, the inheritors of the world that we selfishly turned into a mess. They see wars, income disparities, stubborn prejudices, irrational fears and hatreds, political corruptions, and the pervasive blasphemy against truth itself, for what they really are. And they feel no loyalty to maintain them. And why should they? Why did so many of us maintain them? It was completely wrong. Will this result in a Kairos event? I don’t know. It depends on how this new generation responds. Right now, the circumstances for change are well-aligned, and we see new heroes rising to meet them. We should all encourage and speak out to help them. I, for one, feel very hopeful.
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