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The book of Proverbs reminds us that "to everything there is a season." Well, I have been bothered a bit by the "unseasonable" weather we are having. Years of living in Northern Ohio have prepared me for snow in May! When I see flowers blooming now that should be blooming mid-May, I worry for their future health. They are "out of season". And because it bothers me so much that they are out of season, I am failing to enjoy them.
I have been thinking about death and cancer and all sorts of tragedies that happen to us. Since we think of older people as being closer to death than young people, we find cancer or death of a young person to be more tragic. They are dying "out of season", and we grieve more. But, since we are not God, we do not really know when the person's season is. Some plants we know flower quickly and do not last long. Are they out of season or in season? This year the azalea flowers that normally die out in mid May will probably be gone in April. Yes, the fading blooms are out of season, but actually in season with how long they were to last
I am also amazed at how ingrained some seasons are imprinted in our own life experience. My granddog, Sophie, has curly black hair which makes her miserably hot in the summer. I usually cut it off for her, for the summer. I just visited her a few days ago, and my son said, "Sophie needs her hair cut." If I had looked at the calendar, I could have pointed out that summer begins in June. But my son saw a miserably hot dog in the recent heat wave. So Sophie got her haircut. I am ready to get the winter rugs out of the kitchen, too.
Or think of your hair or nails. Have you ever noticed how within a few days your nails or hair need to be cut because they are way too long? What makes the difference in just a day or so in being "okay", or being "too long"? There is some inner sense of timing.
We all have seasons of joy or sorrow, of being ill or well, of having a lot of friends to being very lonely. Just as this early spring is not disappearing, maybe this unexpected season in your life must simply be enjoyed for what it is. If it is a time you dislike, it will pass. One of the advantages of being older is simply knowing that you can keep walking through anything, and things do usually get better, or you get strong enough to cope with it.
In season... |
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