The “Sacred Surprise” in Everyday Life
by Rev. Peter E. Bauer
Have you ever experienced moments in your life that took you by surprise that were completely unexpected? I’m thinking about a time in 1992 when I was on my way to work. I got off the Metro North Line train in Chicago and was walking outside the Northwestern Station to catch my shuttle over to the hospital.
All of a sudden, a young woman came up to me and said:
“Peter, it’s me! You saved my life!”
Now, I don’t normally get this type of greeting every day. I was surprised and after a few seconds I remembered that I had seen this person as a patient in another agency. A smile came over my face. The young woman and I briefly shared some pleasantries. As I got on the bus and rode over to the hospital, I thought about the encounter. What were the chances of running into this person? Obviously, this person was greatly impacted by the work that I had facilitated with her. It was a deep, moving, poignant moment. Dare I say, a Kairos moment.
A Kairos moment is time that is sacred; it is beyond human measurement and experience. A Kairos moment is suggestive of the presence of God or the divine, however known. When we experience Kairos time, it takes us beyond our human realm and it hints at what the heavenly kingdom is like and what that kind of life can mean for us.
You might think about when you have had such moments. Did you run into a long-lost friend either in real time or over the internet? Did you miss a flight, but in so doing get a job offer that turned around your financial situation? Did you go to a party one night, without a thought, and end up finding your life partner?
All of these ordinary events can appear to be random, perhaps even capricious, but it’s only in reflection after the event that the significance of the encounter really makes its mark. It’s then that the person has the “aha!” moment and realizes that their life has been transformed, that nothing now will remain the same.
Ministers, psychotherapists and other healers can become the guides that help people navigate these Kairos moments in their lives. Again, you will hear someone recount how a youth minister had a great effect on their life; or when they experienced the death of a loved one, it was that therapist who said a word that made all of the difference in the world.
What these sacred surprises suggest is that life is more than meetings, workdays, achievements, and struggles. Life is really about a journey that we have with ourselves and with others. Technology now makes this phenomenon even more immediate. Just the other day, I discovered a friend of mine from twenty years ago. I worked with him in a unit of Naval Reserve Chaplains who were working with the Coast Guard. I found out that my friend is now a bishop in his church. Quite a major achievement for a fine man! Perhaps, this reconnection would not have occurred had I not thought about him and decided to Google his name.
But there it is, after 20 years, another encounter, another Kairos moment.
Where do you find the sacred in the ordinary? Does it occur for you when you are doing the dishes, watching a sunset, or trying to balance your checkbook and then miraculously discovering your math error? Or was it that you walked into a museum not knowing that you were going to see a major wonderful art exhibit by a well-known artist.
New light can indeed emerge sometimes from the least-expected places.
The presence of God, however known, can be subtle and unannounced, just like the young woman I accidentally ran into outside the then-Northwestern train station in Chicago.
Surprises can certainly be unexpected but they can also be sacred.
They can be life-changing and transformative.
May they be so for all of us.
