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Seasons

             There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8)

           When you read this, it will be the first day of September. A little over three weeks from now, we’ll reach the Autumnal Equinox, when Fall will officially begin, but this weekend is Labor Day, when many people in America consider the end of summer. School is beginning, and churches are likely to be ramping up for all sorts of programs and ministries that disappeared during the summer. Traditionally, September is a time of harvest. In fact, the full moon in September is the Harvest Moon. It’s time to pull out the hoodies and the PSLs (Pumpkin Spice Lattes), bonfires, hayrides, and football.

          I used to think that the year and one’s life followed a predictable cycle, but then my life didn’t. I’m not complaining, but I couldn’t help but notice. And then my years started not doing so as my life took a detour. And now, as a gardener, I’ve discovered that while the cycles exist, they’re completely out of whack. For example, there are people who recently planted with the expectation of another harvest before winter. I intend to plant garlic, and maybe onions before the end of September. And I have been harvesting or foraging crops since April or May. When I get to Florida, it will be time to plant again.

          The cycles are there, they’re just not as simple, regular, or synchronized as I tend to expect them to be. While one part of my life is experiencing the excitement of new life (spring) another is reaping a harvest (fall) and a third is in the deadness of winter. Generally, there are several areas of my life in which growth is occurring under the heat of a “summer” sun.

          Perhaps the point is that nature, while following cycles and patterns, doesn’t do so as neatly as we might expect. So why should our lives?  That doesn't mean God isn't in control - just that we aren't.

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