3 1 There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
- Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
This is the time of year that reminds me of the peekaboo emoji. You know the one - the image of one hand covering one eye, with the other peeking through because we just can’t look away from whatever scary thing is approaching.
Considering the season of Spring - and ICE - here in Minnesota, there is a peekaboo emoji on standby. Many of us are scared, while daring to believe that both the cold front and the cold treatment will actually, eventually, come to an end. We want to believe that the weather is changing, but our experience of this harsh season tells us to keep our gloves and our whistles close by...we just never know when we will have to quickly reach for either.
Isn’t that always the way?
Many of us who are accustomed to longstanding cold fronts, in all forms, are very familiar with the need for ambidextrous activism - quickly adapting to show up in equal force, regardless of the slippery conditions that arise. Likewise, following Jesus, also known as The Way, calls us to stand ready to act in spite of the season that is approaching - or lingering. No matter the worldly weather, we must courageously proclaim the unimaginable and undeniable “here and not yet” of freedom, access, and wholeness.
Indeed, enduring the harsh elements for collective liberation is the cost of discipleship. Praise Jehovah for providing the full insulated armor of God so we can sustain!
While there certainly are changing times throughout our lives, there is One who remains constant throughout. It is this Divine Lifeboat that keeps us, tenderly cradling us throughout the parallel seasons of life and of the world. Before we know it, we have made our own sunshine, even while ice - and ICE - is still on the ground.
This is what allows us to smile through tears, to dance in the rain, and to move forward boldly, with both eyes (not just one!) fixed on the Creator - and Sustainer - of the elements.
All of them.
Truly, we have nothing to fear!
This March, may the impossible Spring of possibilities greet you, sustain you, and inspire you to hope, dream, and keep the faith.
Amen.