Times and Seasons of Life

     Millennia before The Byrds turned Pete Seeger's song "Turn!Turn!Turn!" into a #1 Billboard classic, the writer of Ecclesiastes shared these words of wisdom: "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven..." (Ecclesiastes 3:1, NIV) The text continues with a 7 verse list of things that there are time for including birth and death, love and hate, war and peace, and weeping and laughing.
      In the past I was often confused by this scripture because I thought the author was saying that God thought all of these things were "good," hence the giving of time for them.  With age has come insight, if not wisdom, and I now understand that the author is simply explaining to the reader that these will be elements of life.  There is no escaping them as part of our reality and our journey through life.
     I desperately wished that Pete Seeger or the Byrds had thought to include some of the words in Ecclesiastes 3 that follow the "a time to" section because they give such wondrous insight as to what our response should be to these times. Consider these words of wisdom, "What gain have the workers from their toil?...I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live; moreover, it is God's gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in their toil." (Ecclesiastes 3:9, 12-13, NRSV)
    In essence we are told that life will be full of ups and downs, goods and bads, easy times and hard times, but how should you handle this work of life? By finding happiness and enjoying life despite knowing that it won't always go your way and that, yes, there will be sadness and disappointment and hardship, but there will also be joy and love and generosity.  Life will never be all good or all bad, it will always be some of both and they aren't likely to occur in balanced, even portions most of the time. Your mission? Find ways to enjoy life and embrace all your experiences.
     Despite being a pastor, I am not usually one of those people that has scripture pop into their mind to cover whatever is happening in life; however, when my father was diagnosed with stomach cancer in October 2012 the words for Ecclesiastes 3 immediately came to mind. I decided that, while I wished circumstances were different, I would look for blessings and evidence that God was with me and loving me instead of focusing on what God wasn't doing (i.e. miraculously healing my father).  When my mother was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia in February 2013 this choice about my focus became a little harder, but I was determined.  I prayed and prayed; for healing, for strength, for focus, for perseverance, for faith, and for an awareness that God was still at work in my life. 
     When my mother died 50 days later at age 62, the words, "a time to be born and a time to die" kept circling in my mind.  It is one thing to know intellectually that birth and death are going to be part of life; it is another thing for them to become part of your reality.  When my father died in October 2013, also at age 62, and I became an orphaned, only child at age 34, I would lay awake at night with these word swirling around in my mind.  I understood that mourning and weeping was part of life, but when you are in such pain how can you eat and drink and find pleasure in your toil?
    There were days when I was clinging to my faith by my fingernails.  It often felt like I was hanging off a cliff and I knew if I let go I would fall into a deep ravine, possibly with no way out.  Yet, there were blessings that happened along the way too. Small glimmers of light in the darkness of pain and grief.  One was the love and support I received from those in my life. My churches gave me time off with pay and even bought plane tickets and rental cars to help with my expenses. Friends and family gave me places to stay, listening ears, and shoulders to lean and cry on.  God sent me strength when I thought there was none left and precious moments with my parents in their last months of life.  Perhaps you think this is just how it should be, and maybe your right, but you also must know that many people don't get such blessings. I was never alone, God walked beside me and when God knew I needed tangible support and love, God always, always, always sent a person into my life that gave some type of comfort or support.
     I know that this, my first blog, is a bit serious and maybe a little sad, but I wanted to share my reason for the name of my blog.  You see my goal is to share with my readers some of the times and seasons I see and experience in life.  I promise there will be a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war and a time for peace.  Never forget that during all of these times God is walking with us, or carrying us, or dragging us...we are never alone.  A choice lies before us: How will you approach your times and season?  My advice? Grab a chocolate bar, pour a nice drink, and contemplate the good that is always present, especially when the bad is overwhelming.

Blessings and peace!