SOLOMON SAYS there is “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 them.
A time to embrace and a time to turn away.”
In these familiar verses, The Qoheleth (Ecc. 3), Solomon reminds us that THIS life is full of contrasts—and sometimes, the opposites play both ends against the middle, in this case, what seems to be extreme ends of our emotional and activity cycle. But to me, these poetic couplings speak of activities that are so different they are the same.
I attended a happy wedding in a breathtakingly gorgeous setting filled with friends this weekend. I was so happy to embrace them once more, as I hadn’t seen them in YEARS. Where did the time go? Knowing their life stories—having shared good times and bad with them—aware of their hardships and joys—I churned many emotions in my heart. My family and I danced with abandon, happy to be together again and still have the strength to just stand up and move. I take nothing for granted anymore—like the ability to get out of bed the next day. I know I won’t have that chance forever in this life. I’m happy even if I limp a bit today.
As Wisdom predicted, I grieved inside my soul (and wept a little on the outside, too) over the passage of irretrievable time. I love these folks. AND I laughed out loud at the joy of a simple meal together, telling funny stories and acting silly with them again, making NEW memories. I “scattered the stones” of new insights into life AND was encouraged as I garnered the stones of a wiser take on the past. We hugged as we met AND when we said our goodbyes. We eventually HAD to “turn away” as life requires our obligations to be fulfilled. It’s what we humans continually do here under the sun. We say, “Hello” and “Goodbye.” Time. Mysterious and unrelenting, it is here under the sun.
Read Ecclesiastes 3 and count how often the words “time… and… time” repeat. I had never seen it before, but it seems to me that someone wants us to think about our limited time here. We should not only think about time but also what we choose to purchase with this “endowment.” Enjoy it, treasure it and everything in it, do good in it, and be thankful in “good times” and “bad times” since God gives to us both. We may find in time that we’ve learned to make wiser choices in everything humanly possible. I hope I do. I hope we all do. And while we're talking about wise choices to make with time if you get the chance to sit it out or dance . . . I hope you dance.
Copywrite 2022, Gary Landerfelt, MyPericope.com
Comments