Skip to main content

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.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saved?

  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23) Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (Romans 3:4)   What conclusion do you draw when someone who was raised in a Christian family and church, perhaps even playing a significant role in a chur...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more

Listen To Him

              The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him . (Deuteronomy 18:15)           Today, we switch from Jesus’ claims of “I am” to prophecies made about Him. My Bible platform is starting in Deuteronomy. I’d start in Genesis, where we would learn that the one who would save us would be a descendant of Eve (Genesis 3:15), of Noah (by default), Abram and Sara(Genesis 12:1-3). Isaac (Genesis 17:19), Jacob (Genesis 25:23), Judah (Genesis 29:8), and David (II Samuel 7:12-16). There were also references to a new covenant (Jer. 31:31-34; Ezek. 36:22-32). In addition, there were prophecies about when and where the prophet/Messiah would be born and what would happen to him.           Of course, naysayers will claim that Jesus’ life was retrofitted or reverse enginee...
Post a Comment
Read more