Seasons
In late 1965, The Byrds released Pete Seeger’s “Turn, Turn, Turn”, a peace anthem taken almost exclusively from the 3rd chapter of the Biblical book of Ecclesiastes. The overarching theme of these eight verses is seasons, with the author describing a time for every season and purpose under heaven.
You may remember some of the phrases. A time to be born, a time to die, a time to plant, a time to reap, a time to kill, a time to heal, a time to weep, to laugh, to dance, to mourn. A time to gain, to lose, to speak, and to remain silent.
Life Quality
We often measure the quality of our lives by three metrics. Our physical health, the state of our relationships, and our financial well-being. A sweet spot for each of us I believe, is when we feel as if we are in robust physical health, all of our key relationships are emotionally healthy and rewarding, and we feel as if we have financial margin. Many of us however, have experienced health challenges, relational mishaps, and times where there seemed to be more month than money. Those cycles and seasons are a part of the journey.
Cycles
Just as days, weeks, months, and years have cycles, so does life itself. There are times when we have never felt better physically and times when we experience health challenges. Times of joy with those closest to us and times of grief, whether that’s due to misunderstandings or the loss of those closest to us through death or mental impairment. Times when we are knocking it out of the park financially and times when we are searching couch cushions for lunch money.
Loss
A very natural response to loss, whether health, relationships, or finances, is grief. This is as it ought to be as grieving losses is part of the healing process. Disappointment, which is the spread between expectations and experience, can also make an appearance. What can often determine the future trajectory of our lives though, is how we handle disappointment. We can reject our experience, remaining resolute that life is unfair and we are a victim. Or, we can choose to receive our experience with the full knowledge that our experience is simply a part of the journey, and common to the human condition.
Joy and Gratefulness
How so then, as we move through all these seasons of life? At this point in this short note, I wish I had a perfect answer for you. A dear friend’s father is experiencing significant health problems after years of robust good health. It’s a tough spot for the entire family and I don’t have words. I’ve learned only two things about this. One is to reject cynicism, skepticism, and doubt. Those three, very much like quit, criticize, condemn, and complain, are mentally and emotionally destructive.
The other is to embrace joy, which is a state of being when confidence comes from knowing that the best is yet to come. That we will one day see the renewal of all things, the restoration of all that has been lost. And gratefulness. For the day. For life. For those relationships which remain. Or new ones formed. For sunshine, a good meal and a bottle of wine. For meaningful work to pursue.
Celebrate
And finally, to celebrate. This week we celebrate with Thanksgiving. And in the coming weeks, we will experience the celebrations of Christmas and Hannukah. Such celebrations can be times of reflection which help restore joy and gratefulness, as we allow this to happen.
I am continuing to learn on this journey and through all the seasons of life, to choose love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control, to share words from one of the ancients. We continue to learn the value of celebration, times to pause and reflect, to renew and restore relationships. And on this journey, we will continue to share as we learn. And we invite you to share what you have learned with us.
Until we see you again, wishing you only the best.