change of seasons

I was reminded about how life follows certain seasons when I was asked to do a funeral of community member who was well known.  The day that I went to talk to the family about their father was a day when the winds were howling at 60 mph and it began to snow.  The day before was chilly and windy though by the time of the funeral it was sunny and about 65 with very little wind.  The weekend the temperature rose to about 70 on Saturday.  Welcome to Nebraska.

The one aspect of living in this climate is the experience of four seasons.  There is a beauty of all the seasons and I appreciate each for what they have to offer.  From the new growth of spring to the starkness of winter, it is a reminder of God’s creation and life cycles and how important those cycles are for all of creation.  We cannot have a spring without a winter, a fall without summer.

What brought this to mind was the scripture the family wanted to use at the memorial service was Ecclesiastes 3:1-8.  As I was reflecting on this father’s life, I began to reflect on the seasons of all our lives here on earth.  Beginning with spring, we are born and quickly begin to grow physically, mentally, and spiritually.  Like a plant that sends down its roots and reaches up to the sky, we too begin the process of developing our roots that will help us continue to reach up to God.

Summer is a time of ripening and a time of cultivating so that the growth can be maintained.  The plant begins to mature and develop fruit.  So in our summer time we begin to develop fruit and to mature in our growth.  Often a time of developing families, careers, and community, we are in need of cultivation.  This is the time of challenges to not allow the weeds of life to take over.  At times one needs to find ways and means to remain faithful so that the fruit that will mature is worthy of harvesting.

Fall is the time of the mature fruit.  It is a time of harvest and change.  How one has lived their life until this time will determine what the harvest will have.  Is it worthy of harvest?  The answer comes from how the person has lived their lives and the choices that they have made.  From the seeds of the this fruit is the legacy that gives life to others.

Winter is a time of starkness often seen as a time of dying.  Jesus stated in the gospel of John, “Unless a grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains but a single seed.  But if it dies, it produces many seeds.”  Though he was talking about his passion there is much truth in all of our lives.  That the plants seeds must die and be buried in the life giving soil to be able to be reborn.

What the gospel of hope is that winter is not the last word.  In creation spring always follows winter.  So in our life death is not the final answer.  Spring is around the corner.  We are reborn to new life in Christ.

As winter approaches, let us never forget that spring is around the corner with the guarantee of new life.  Thanks be to Christ.