Changing seasons

 In our entryway hangs a painting by Sam Toft. Sam is one of our favorite artists because of her whimsy and her unique style. We have several of her works (well, prints, actually). The painting I refer to is one of a set of four depicting the seasons of the year. The one currently on display is Spring. I was supposed to change it out for the Summer painting on the summer solstice, June 20, 2021. We have a dear friend who says he counts on our season painting to keep him straight on which season we are currently in. 

I didn't change the Spring painting to the Summer, because by June 20th I was feeling pretty rotten and didn't know why. I just couldn't muster the strength or the desire to make the change. Five days later I landed in the hospital with a diagnosis of Acute Myeloid Leukemia. (It just occurred to me the irony that I didn't put up the summer painting, and I didn't really have a summer, at least not like the ones I have known.)

This morning Jill and I had a discussion about changing seasons. In addition to our own situation, we have a number of friends who are experiencing changes in their lives. One family is packing up to move across the country. Another friend, who has been on strong pain medication that damaged her kidneys, is now facing back surgery. A neighbor lost her husband recently, and a week later she fell and cracked her pelvis. All of us are going through what Jill refers to as changing seasons in our lives. 

Some people find it difficult to leave summer behind and get back into the swing of school being in session. Others have trouble dealing with the long, dark, cold days of winter. The fact is that change can be hard for us, because it forces us out or our comfort zones. Our routines may be interrupted. Changes in health or wealth or geography may be even harder seasonal transitions for us, because the seasons of life tend to last longer than the three months of fall or spring. 

As we talked this morning, Jill said that as we experience new circumstances over which we have no control, it is as if God is changing the season of our lives. He is telling us that, although we have been moving in this direction, it is time to move in a new direction. And that can be hard. Perhaps, it is because we liked the old direction so much. Or maybe it is because we have to learn new ways to do things or even to think about things, and that requires effort. 

In the book called Ecclesiastes, part of the Old Testament of the Bible, King Solomon wrote (or you may recognize this from a song made popular by the Byrds back in the '60s - (boy are you old!)): 

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

² a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
³ a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
⁴ a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
⁵ a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
⁶ a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
⁷ a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
⁸ a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.

Solomon reminds us that life is not always a bed of roses. Nor is it always a briar patch. Life is life, and a lot of it is out of our control. As I read through this passage, I recognize that "there is nothing new under the sun." Did you know that phrase also comes from Ecclesiastes? Verse 5 seems appropriate for this era of the Covid pandemic.  Verse 7b is something of which I constantly need to remind myself. Verse 3b reminds me of my chemotherapy, as I go through the cycle of the medicine breaking down the unwanted cells in my body, followed by my (dare I say it again) miraculous body building itself back up. 

As the seasons change, we can mourn, or we can dance. I heard someone say, "We can't change the weather, but we can learn to dance in the rain." Let's face it, some things, perhaps most things, are just not under our control. Part of the joie de vivre, is learning to dance in the rain. When the seasons of our lives change, let us "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice." (Philippians 4:4) For "This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." (Psalm 118:24, emphasis added) Happy dancing!