There is a time for everything; a season for every activity under heaven
Jan 26th, 2009 by spaceagesage
After being in a legalistic cult for several years, I found my well-worn Bible to be an irritant for years. Every time I opened it, I could see and hear preachers of my past explaining a non-authentic view of Christianity. My side notes, the dog-eared chapter tabs, and underlined passages all reminded me of wrong teachings, things that pulled me away from God.
I used another Bible for awhile, one with no tell-tale memories, but then I discovered The Message translation by Eugene H. Peterson which uses contemporary language. It renewed the life and energy of the many messages in the Bible for me. Nowadays, I can pick up any Bible, including my old, heavily used one and it doesn’t matter, but The Message still has a warm place in my heart.
I recently picked it up again to read Ecclesiastes. Most people have heard this passage from that chapter of the Bible. Here first is the New International Version‘s translation:
There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:
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,
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.
The Byrds used similar words in their song Turn! Turn! Turn! (to Everything There Is a Season).
I had to laugh when I went to get the YouTube link for this song. One of the comments came from Ronoc62 “… I don’t completely understand the song but I like it anyway.” The words sum up how I thought about this passage most of my life, too.
Here’s The Message version:
There’s an opportune time to do things, a right time for everything on the earth:
A right time for birth and another for death,
A right time to plant and another to reap,
A right time to kill and another to heal,
A right time to destroy and another to construct,
A right time to cry and another to laugh,
A right time to lament and another to cheer,
A right time to make love and another to abstain,
A right time to embrace and another to part,
A right time to search and another to count your losses,
A right time to hold on and another to let go,
A right time to rip out and another to mend,
A right time to shut up and another to speak up,
A right time to love and another to hate,
A right time to wage war and another to make peace.
These few words — no matter if you sing them or rephrase them — speak so eloquently to the changeability of time, chance, and life. They also reveal the value of wisdom from a lifetime of experience, from having “been there; done that,” from having seen the robust nature of humanity in all its facets.
It’s taken me almost 50 years to figure this passage out. I learned because I’ve “waged war” when it was time for peace — and vice versa; I’ve sat counting my losses when my time would have been better searching — and vice versa; and I’ve tried to reap from a field I did not adequately plant — and vice versa. I learned by doing and by making mistakes. That is what much of life is all about, yes?
I plan to write a few posts about the wisdom of Ecclesiastes in future posts, with a special emphasis on the contemporary language used in The Message translation.
Until then, I would ask:
What do you think of these words about the changing seasons and times of life?
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Photo credit: speech path girl
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Hi Lori – Thank you so much for sharing this. I love the words from Ecclesiastes. There’s so much truth in each line, and like you, it’s taken me years to figure it out. Your words, “I’ve tried to reap from a field I did not adequately plant”, are spot on. We do reap what we sow, don’t we?
**smiles** It’s been awhile since I heard “Turn, Turn, Turn”. Now you have me humming it. 🙂
It speaks to me about what something a wise friend once told me — context is everything. For example, on the surface, war and peace are polar opposites. But I can think of how you may have a single objective — perhaps to protect your country — where depending your circumstance you’d choose one of those actions and the other would be wrong.
It just means that acts themselves cannot be weighed and judged in isolation. The intent, the context, and the timing — reality is a complex web of all these factors.
ari
The simple truth that ‘this too shall pass’ is too difficult to understand and at various times, various teachers have elaborated to explain this simple principle. All religions have similar messages and the message is what keeps the faithful content and connected.
Hi Barbara,
Ecclesiastes is full of many thing most people don’t expect to read in the Bible. It’s a bit of a wake-up call from a very different perspective.
Hi Ari,
“intent, the context, and the timing” –yes! The curious thing is that a lifetime is never enough to figure it all out completely.
Hi Rummuser,
“This too shall pass” is such a strong affirmation that the toughest times won’t last forever. Waiting for that to happen, knowing how to live in that moment and every moment, and maximizing what Ari calls “intent, the context, and the timing” — now that can be quite tough, too.
I love those words. They’re so much richer than the overly simplistic self-help stuff we sometimes encounter.
I love the words that you’ve shared. Timing is everything!! Perspectives too can change with the passage of time.
Hi Jean,
You are so right! Well put.
Hi Evelyn,
Timing, perspective, experience — so much goes into who and what we are. It’s a wonder we get as much right as we do!