For Everything There is a Season.

There is a time for everything, a season for every purpose under heaven, a season to be born and a season to die, a season to plant and a season to harvest; And God’s gift to us is to eat and drink and find fulfillment in our work. Ecclesiastes 3:1, 2, & 13

At the beginning of a new year, we look ahead wondering what it might hold for us. With the writer of Ecclesiastes, we query what lies ahead for us: promise or pain; fulfillment or frustration, life or death. And where, we wonder, where will God be in all of this?

Our lives are full of many births and many deaths, each one as miraculous or difficult as the last. This coming year will be no different. The important thing I take from these words is that there is no dying without rebirth, no planting without harvesting, no tearing without mending, no hurting without dancing. No matter what the coming year holds for us, we will experience joy with our sorrow, faith in our doubting, and trust in our questioning. May we, as we move through this coming year in love for others and creation, discover the full meaning of our existence.

But what about that final sentence~ 'And God’s gift to us is to eat and drink and find fulfillment in our work’? These words are often interpreted to mean that the only purpose to our lives is what many refer to as the 'daily grind': eating, sleeping and working, that it is what is ordained for us and we should be contented with it. But what if the author of Ecclesiastes has a different message for us. What if they are actually saying that it is in the mundane, the daily routine, the 'present', that we will find real satisfaction, connection, and yes, even joy.

In the coming year, my wish for all of us is that we can see within the mundane the opportunities for life, for living, for connection, for growth that are there.

Happy New Year, everyone!

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NUDGINGS: a journey into the unknown

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