Scripture: Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8 NRSV
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to throw away; 7 a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.
Seasons to Life
The official start to the season of fall is now upon us. For me, fall always began on the first Wednesday after Labor Day when I returned to school for another year. The air was different, a little cooler, and the days were ending a little earlier each evening. Soon the foliage that blanketed the hills would burst forth with glorious colors.
It was nearly the end of the regular season of Major League Baseball and the World Series would be played in daylight hours. Our schools and shops broadcasted radio coverage of the games for all to hear. I recall the ringing of church bells all over New England on the first Sunday of October in 1967 when the Red Sox won the pennant.
When the series was over, it was time to focus on football, and then Halloween and finally Thanksgiving.
There was a rhythm to the season and the ones that would follow.
Society has tried to tame the ebb and flow of the seasons. Stores stock their shelves well in advance of the next holiday and season. I have friends who have already completed their Christmas shopping. Of course, many of them are headed back here to Florida trying to beat the next season of winter.
I have resided in Florida for nearly 22 years, and I still miss the changes of seasons and the rhythms of life. My friends tell me I have missed the point: there is preseason and season and of course, football.
Perhaps the urge to tame the seasons to fit our needs have left us out of balance with ourselves and nature. We want to control all that happens in our lives, no surprises.
I think this had led to unhappiness among the population even here where we call home paradise. I read this morning’s letters to the editor and sense great unease and pervasive unhappiness.
I suggest we read the scripture above, and take delight in the seasons, wherever we are. If that doesn’t work, take trip North to see the glory of God expressed by nature’s glorious colors.
- North Georgia is up North.
Prayer: God of all seasons, we thank you for the changes of seasons that reveal the cycles of life. As you transform the earth, transform us by your Spirit. Amen