I’m thankful for seasons. Hailing from the northeast, I observed four distinct seasons, each with its own vivid glories. I will never forget silent, snow laden winter streets at midnight under a full moon, the reflected light making it appear as dawn. Spring was ushered in when first color would sprout up to contrast a very dead looking world – pink crocuses, the principal hope that spring had arrived even if their tiny rosy buds were poking through the snow. Forsythia and finally the heady fragrance of Lilacs would give their stamp of approval. Summer was abundance. Backyard gardens teamed with mouthwatering tomatoes, beans, and peppers, all grown without soil prep or extra water, a fact I did not fully appreciate at the time. Laughter and secrets, both were shared in berry fields; the spoils poured out into sour cherry pies and blueberry crisps. Fall was a kaleidoscope of yellows, oranges, purples, and reds, swirling until they met their final union with earth, and the cycle would start all over again. Texas has four seasons too. Some say they are: “almost summer, summer, still summer, and Christmas” (yes, there’s a facebook page)! I rather like to say they are bipolar, with summer being manic, and the other seasons playing ping pong unpredictably. No matter how distinct or how subtle or how aberrant seasons are, sometimes we can’t help wishing for another season or desiring the next; the same can be said of the seasons of our lives.
A wise and apparently (from what we just learned at the W.E.L.L.) sexy man wrote about everything having a season, a time for every matter under heaven. What follows is a poetic litany of the ever-changing seasons of humankind. Just as fatigue sets in as I mull over these sweeping human affairs, Solomon asks, “What gain has the worker from his toil?” He doesn’t answer this repeated question straight up, but rather makes two statements and a conclusion. First, God has made everything beautiful in its time. Second, God planted eternity in our hearts yet we aren’t privy to the whole scope of what He is accomplishing beginning to end. God’s enduring forever and immutability stand in stark contrast to our ever-shifting human conditions. He concludes that there would be “nothing better” than to be joyful and do good as long as we live, and that we should take pleasure in all our toil – this is God’s gift. So rather than being driven to earn through our work and times and seasons of life, we ought to be centered on contentment rooted in God’s sovereignty, even if it seems like “still summer” in Texas.
Eccliastes 3:1- 15
P.S. I’m also thankful for wise and sexy men!
No comments:
Post a Comment