The Circle Continues

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

For everything there is a season
A time for every purpose under heaven.

A time for us to begin
When God breathes life into us
We are born.
And a time for us to join him again
We die.

During our lives, we plant
We leave ideas behind us
We whisper of God’s word
And eventually, God returns for harvest.

At our hand, thing end
At our hand, people are healed.
At our hand, we tear things down
Sometimes that is what is necessary
So that
At our hand, we build God’s kingdom

And the circle continues
Every purpose, a season.

Sometimes God is so close
Sometimes God is so far away
Either one may bring us to tears
In the joy, we find laughter.
God brings us to both
And we find that sometimes
they are almost the same.

Our hearts ache,
And we grieve what has been lost
What might be lost
What should be lost.
Our souls are drawn toward God
And we dance.
Our spirits touch another
And we dance.

In the dancing, we embrace
In the mourning, we embrace
At times we find that
To stand apart is impossible.
Other times it is all that is possible.

And the circle continues
Every purpose, a season.

Stones are all around us
Do we gather them together,
Or do we ignore them.
Can we use them to build?
Or will all we find is a wall,
Once we are finished?

There is a time to search,
To never give up,
To grasp tightly in protection
And there is a time to let go
To release
To risk all
To walk away empty

In the seams of our lives
We run the needle
Making connections
Strengthening
And then there comes the moment
When the seam is stretched beyond its purpose
And it must be ripped apart.

And the circle continues
Every purpose, a season.

The most difficult decisions confront us.
Is it a moment for courage?
A moment to stand and speak God’s word?
Or is it a moment for silence?
A time to allow God to speak past us,
Instead of through us.
Silence can be a tool of God
Or it can be avoidance.

Is there ever a time for hate?
Is there ever a time when God’s love
Is not to be offered, freely and with grace?
Or is there a time when
What might be seen as hate
Is love in disguise.
What might be seen as cruelty
Is really compassion?

Is there a time for war?
When battle lines are drawn?
When God says, “Stand up; be my body.”
Walk forward for justice.
So that peace can descend
Like an everflowing stream.
And is there a time
When peace is just calmness
Silence
In the presence of God?

And the circle continues
Every purpose, a season.

A time to be and a time to do.
A time to shout and a time to whisper.
A time to convince and a time to move past.
A time to forgive and a time to forget.
What time is it?

For everything there is a season
A time for every purpose under heaven.

For two days in a row now, as I have gotten to work, the song Turn Turn Turn has been playing on my XM radio. Different artists, but the same song.

Thanks to JtM for the phrase (actually for the different view of it) "What time is it?"