“To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heavens. …A time to get and a time to lose; a time to keep and a time to cast away.”
Ecclesiastes 3:1 & 6
How is it that we accept the changing seasons of the earth, and not the changing seasons of our lives?
We spend so much time in reverie, not accepting our own transitions that we miss the beauty and depth of knowledge which occurs simply by going through the rites of passage that is our life. It is uncanny how so many of us waste time trying to recapture the simplicity of our youth without understanding that—that was then, this is now.
If somehow you passed up your youth due to ignorance, intolerance, disobedience, or through the negligence of your parents; there really is no turning back. Your youth was spent in another type of knowledge, you learned how to not take things for granted. Or, maybe your youth was spent within the ravages of war, confinement, molestation, or turmoil; then your youth taught you fear. If on the other hand, you spent your youth as a child of innocence, frolicking and free; then, you have learned how special it is to relish the beauty of freedom.
Each decade of our existence teaches us the uniquely special qualities of our life, forging new frontiers if we allow the wisdom of age to take control. Reactions change, ideologies change, the world changes; even people change. There are things you did as a youngster, teenager, or twenty-something that you would not be caught dead doing again. And there are things you will do at thirty, forty, and fifty, that at 80 years old you’ll wonder if you had lost your mind.
There is a tree outside my window that overhangs the sidewalk. It has the most magnificent seasonal transitions. Right before it finally goes dormant for the winter, the leaves turn a beautiful vibrant orange, then a rich deep burgundy. I call it the flame tree, because, as part of its transition, both colors appear together right before the burgundy takes over and the leaves begin the process of falling off, marking the coming of winter.
It is a perfect metaphor for the life of man. Each transition offers its own beauty; its own reverence; its own time. Embrace the beauty of your life; it and your age are luxuries that have been denied to many. And, in this life, one thing is for certain; they will not come again. L.
Study Reference: Ecclesiastes 3:1-6
From:"Transitions." In The Master's Hands: 365 Daily Devotions For Everyday Living.
Copyright © 2014 by Lavona E. Campbell
photo: istock
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