We have been doing some reading in Lane’s book (Landscapes of the Sacred) about different meanings of place and time. We have Topos and Chora, both meaning place, but both meaning it in a different way. Topos is like a neutral place, indifferent, it is simply just a place. Whereas Chora is a vitalizing place filled with power and energy. Chora is a place with meaning to you, a place that stands out among the rest.. Lane gave a great explanation of both in the book using the McDonalds example.
Lane also gives us Chronos and Kairos, both meaning time, but again, both meaning it in a different way. Chronos is the indifferent one, the less meaningful one. Chronos is just the measurable seconds, where the time spent is the same as usual and there is nothing significant about it. Kairos is the more meaningful one. Kairos is like a significant moment, or something unrepeatable. Kairos could be an opportune time, something that sets that specific time apart from any other time.
I found these to be some very interesting concepts. I feel everyone has had experience in both states, Topos or Chora, Chronos or Kairos. For example, time with a loved one is most often Kairos, it is significant and matters. Whereas some times during class I get the sense more of Chronos, just purely counting the seconds. I view Chora as a grandparent’s house, where you love to spend time and don’t get to enough. I think of Topos as just an intermediate point, like a bus stop, someplace irrelevant. I feel we experience Topos, Chora, Chronos, and Kairos every day, we just have to keep our eyes open and notice it.
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