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Thought for the Month October 2024
 from Rev’d Matthew Price of St Mary Magdalene Church
I know, it’s hard to believe, but it’s happening—the summer is starting to give way to autumn and the mornings are starting to offer the crispness of the air that is characteristic of autumn
And with this autumn ‘feel’ comes the many of the festivals which mark our steady walk towards Christmas; harvest, All Hallows Eve and Remembrance. Autumn also brings the excitement of the football season with it too!
Do you appreciate the changing of seasons—the subtle change in the air and temperature? While it seems so gradual to most people, if you pay attention you really can feel the transition between seasons. Summer to autumn. Autumn to winter. Winter to spring. Spring to summer
Do you feel it?
And it’s not just the weather experiencing changes in seasons. We do too. Our lives have seasons: periods of predictable time where certain things happen. The differences between the changes of seasons in weather and the changes of seasons in life, however, can be dramatic and sometimes not very fun
But that doesn’t mean they do not need reflection. In passage from the Old Testament part of the Bible, the author (probably King Solomon) reflects:
There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
Just like the weather, there is a balance and purpose to the seasons in our lives
In 'summer' we’re at our peak. Life’s good. You could say we’re running 'full steam'. We feel productive and valuable
As “autumn” rolls into our lives, we’re feeling a little worn down and weary. Maybe something has happened to thrust us into this or maybe we are just feeling that we’ve run out of steam. We’re less productive although we could keep going if we have to
Then. Comes. “Winter”. We are cold...still. We’re not productive and there’s nothing to give. We’re spent in every sense of the word. Were we to stay here, life would be grey, dull, and two-dimensional. This is the stage of “survival”—we just get up so we don’t stay in bed
Yet, ‘there is a time for everything’. ‘Winter’—oh dear reader, read this encouragement!—’winter’ gives way to ‘spring’. When ‘spring’ arrives in our lives, everything begins stirring again. There’s a real sense of ‘newness’. There’s a renewal of energy when we were convinced there was none. We’ve not only survived ‘winter’, we’re now starting to run and we’re going to run all the way to ‘summer’
In all the seasons of our lives, we move through these times of transitions—just like the weather does. Perhaps the transitions of life are harder than the season because we can feel the changes. Maybe there’s fear in what’s coming or the sheer unknown causes us more than a little trepidation
In the grand scheme, we are powerless. And we are certainly powerless to control the seasons of our lives
But as you continue your day after reading this reflection, know this: in this complete lack of control, God is there. It is the Christian hope that Jesus is not only with us in the ups and downs of life, but because of his life on earth has experienced the seasons of life for himself and is able to empathise with us
Father God,
We thank you that you promise always to be with us. There is nothing we experience that is a surprise to you
Thank you that you promise to be our shepherd and that we can trust you
Please may we know your presence with us today. Amen
courtesy of Gorleston Community Magazine
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