Seasons of Life…a post by Joy

Seasons of life come to us whether we want them to or not. It’s interesting that this is the way God organized and planned the rhythm of life from the beginning. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8;11 states: There is a time for everything,a season for every activity under heaven.A time to be born and time to die.A time to plant and a time to harvest.A time to kill and a time to healA time to tear down and a time to rebuild.A time to cry and a time to laugh.A time to grieve and a time to dance.A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones.A time to embrace and a time to turn away.A time to search and a time to lose.A time to keep and a time to throw away.A time to tear and a time to mend.A time to be quiet and a time to speak up.A time to love and a time to hate.A time for war and a time for peace....God has made everything beautiful for its own time.....The great thing about the change of seasons or a “time for everything” is the simple truth that it really IS “for a season” . When our appointed time comes to leave this earth, our season here in this life is complete.In our journeys of Christian spiritual formation, there are seasons that are joyful, ambivalent, or sad even to the point of grieving the loss of the old season to make room for the birth of what’s coming with the new season. It’s a way that we are able to pay attention with our finite minds and hearts to the grief and the blessing of what we have just experienced through the season of Lent, Good Friday and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. There is always going to be the cycle of endings (“death”) and beginnings (“resurrection”) as Christ transforms us day by day in His time.   May we be mindful of the presence of Christ in our lives all the times.