The Noontimes

Ecclesiastes 3:1-16: God’s Seasons

Saturday, November 30, 2024

A Favorite from November 20, 2010.

God restores what would otherwise be displaced.

These opening verses are made familiar to us in song; yet they seem new when we look at them with “Advent eyes.” We learn something new about ourselves and our world when we open ourselves to hope, and to the expectation of restoration.

I have recently heard accounts on NPR from those who have lost everything they had owned as a result of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico this spring. There is desperation in the voices and still they hold out hope; believing in miracles, knowing that if God takes care of the birds of the sky then surely God will take care of his human creatures.

Time is something we humans measure, covet and dole out.

Eternity is where and how God lives. There is no beginning, end or limit to time.

Seasons are the spiraling repetition of cycles that bring a familiar newness. They allow us to be a bit daring without straying too far from a norm.

Space is something we humans designate and chop up, purchase, lease, lend and try to own.

Omniscience is where and how God lives. There are no limits, boundaries or borders. We are each single and yet part of a whole.

Restoration erases times as we see it. Hope expands time as we know it. Miracles erase both time and space as we perceive them.

As we read the familiar lines describing God’s plan, let us think about the seasons and turnings in our lives. Let us remember the miracles we have lived. Let us surrender our yearnings for what is familiar and comfortable. Let us dare to imagine ourselves with all possessions wiped away. Let us have the courage to live as though we believe in miracles. Let us look for the eternal in the moments, hours, days, weeks and years that mark our lives. And let us give ourselves over to God’s seasons.

Image from: http://www.w2wministries.org/2020/10/trusting-god-in-changing-seasons.html