Is Time Really Money?

By Stephanie and Eric Stradford

Atlanta, GA, August 18, 2005 A.D. -- At one time or another, most folks have bought into the adage, “Time is Money.” Last evening, Bible Study got started at about 7:11 -- eleven minutes late for some. For others, 7:11 might have been that long-awaited “wink from God” to play those numbers before the lotto window closes. Perhaps for the faithful, gathered at First African Methodist Episcopal Church here, 7:11 was the right time at the right place for a lesson on time.

The Reverend David Randolph Bishop, IV found comfort in prefacing his lesson on the value of children with some choice words on time--Kairos, Chronos, and, and for good measure, we’ll throw in “C.P.” time. Just weeks before his “sudden death,” The late Dr. Arthur Allen Fletcher, Father of the Affirmative Action Enforcement Movement, described a mystical "zone" as such. “When you are in your eighties, you are often in The Twilight Zone,” he said.

At the same time, Kristen C. Simpson, a 16 year-young author at Ebenezer AME Church, was preparing readers for time-travel through her newly released book, “Messages From Above.”

The quest for value takes a turn into the “C.P.” time zone as AME preacher and Howard University filmmaker, Dr. Paula Matabane enlightens children of slavery about their Kairos value in her film, “Hair Like Wool, Feet Like Bronze.” Get the book. See the film. Get an earth-shattering perspective on the old saying, “Time is money.”

“Hair Like Wool, Feet Like Bronze” is not just a documentary, it investigates the “stony road” trod by descendants of Africa to arrive at a pre-ordained place in C.P. or Colored Peoples’ time. Kairos, for the purpose of this observation, is cyclic. Before John The Revelator wrote Revelations, he walked with God in the form of Jesus The Christ.   Poetically recorded in the Gospel (truth) according to John, is an undisputable portrayal of Kairos time and the value of God’s Word to the world as we know it. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.”