These late summer days in Chicago certainly make me conscious of the passing of time. Each morning, the sun is coming up a little later and setting a little earlier in the evening.
When I start thinking about the passage of time, for some reason my brain retreats to several 1970’s and 1980’s pop songs, including Steve Miller’s “Fly Like An Eagle” and its lyrics “time keeps on slipping into the future” and Jim Croce’s “Time in a Bottle.” I’m breaking into song as I write … it’s a good thing you can’t hear me!
Time was on our minds earlier this month as our executive staff gathered for our annual “off-site” retreat. We tend to be a pretty time-oriented group, so meeting dates, deadlines, and work plans were among the items on our agenda. Ironically, while we refer to this gathering as a “retreat,” it tends to be a struggle to manage our work time and our leisure time so that we can enjoy each other’s company and the beautiful setting in which we meet. Sad, but true.
Our preoccupation with time was a theme of one of our morning devotions and we spent time considering some of the most well-known words from Ecclesiastes 3 (yes, also well known as the lyrics to another song from the memory banks … Pete Seeger’s “Turn, Turn, Turn,” popularized by the band “The Byrds”).
Our discussion of Ecclesiastes 3 took us in several interesting directions as we considered the meaning of “a time for” in our personal lives and in the mission of Wheat Ridge. Since our retreat took place right after the congressional debt ceiling crisis and subsequent market reactions, it was reassuring to read this text as a reminder that there is a time for everything and a season for every activity as God provides a regular rhythm for life even in the midst of what often seem like random, chaotic times.
Ecclesiastes 3 also reminded us that life is about the good times and the bad, the happy and the sad. The times and seasons of our lives are filled with both. One season prepares and equips us for the other. I suspect you’ve either concluded from your own experience, or heard from others, that tough times are really some of the most valuable times of life.
One of our staff members suggested that we isolate the seasons mentioned in Ecclesiastes into categories by what we’d typically perceive as good times and bad times. As often as I’ve considered this text, I had never done this before. Looking at the separate lists was quite interesting. Here’s our list of the “good times” … A time to be born, to plant, to heal, to build, to laugh, to dance, to gather, to embrace, to search, to keep, to mend, to speak, to love, and a time for peace.
Likewise, our list of “bad times” … A time to die, to uproot, to kill, to tear down, to weep, to mourn, to scatter, to refrain from embracing, to give up, to throw away, to tear, to be silent, to hate, and a time for war.
The first thing we discovered looking at these lists is to be cautious with our assumptions. We concluded that not everything is automatically good or bad all the time. Is it always good to speak and bad to be silent? Is mourning good or bad? Is there ever a time when uprooting, or going to war is ultimately a good thing?
Considering the mission of Wheat Ridge to share health and hope through the new ministries we encourage and support, these lists also proved very interesting. Our “bad times” list looked very similar to the list of health and human care issues that lead inspired leaders to come to Wheat Ridge for assistance as they serve people who may be weeping, giving up, enduring sickness and death, hatred or loneliness.
Likewise, we agreed that our “good times” list was a wonderful vision for what we pray are the outcomes of seeding new ministries of health and hope. What a beautiful thing to experience the seasons of life that God intends for us … seasons where we embrace, laugh, dance, live in peace with others, gather and mend as we experience wellness of body, mind and spirit!
Thank God for the seasons and the gift of life!
