Times and Seasons

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven….He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart. Ecclesiastes 3: 1, 11 ESV

The idea of a balanced life is nothing new. We have balanced diets of sweet and savoury, meat and veg, and the balance we need to do life in all its complexity. Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, tells us that everything has a season, and sandwiched between verses 1 and 11 are the well known words which unfortunately we mostly hear at funerals, referring to “a time to live and die” and other opposing sides of the same life.

God has made everything beautiful in its time, and how true this is. From the flower in the bud which is undoubtedly beautiful, to the withering leaf when that same plant is anything but beautiful. If you are a more mature person, as you look back to teenage years, do you not think of yourself as a once handsome man, or beautiful girl, and now looking in the mirror those days are gone? There is a season and everything is beautiful in its time, and we see it and accept it as truth. The old saying goes: “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder” so is it too much to think that there is beauty in life at all stages? Even for the older, more mature, with signs of life etched on their face, and the older flower or plant which will eventually give new life as it falls to the ground? Yes, everything is beautiful in its time! Everything and everyone!!

God has also put eternity into man’s heart according to the wisest man, Solomon. So what does he mean? We share the planet with atheists and agnostics and they claim that there is no afterlife, and no God. I have a recurring thought that those who shout loudest about there being no God, are the ones most likely to be struggling with the very concept. Empty vessels perhaps? God’s Word is true, and when it says that God has put eternity into man’s heart, then we can go to the bank with it, no matter what some ‘learned’ academics and the ignorant may say. It is impossible to show or prove, but I believe there are more deathbed conversions, and examples of the ‘dying thief on the cross’ encounters with the living Christ than we can ever know.

Time to Keep Silent

To every thing there is a season...a time to keep silence, and a time to speak. Ecclesiastes 3:1,7

We all face the question in our own minds, whether to put up or shut up. Speak or be silent. Let rip or stay schtum. Our base instinct is to shout the odds at the thing that hurts and annoys us, or perhaps the person that has crossed the line we have drawn in the sand. We all wrestle with that one many times, and I think we fail wise Solomon’s measured advice.

There certainly is a time to speak out, and confront evil because Jesus tells us to beware of false teachers and prophets in the Gospels, but that is not to be used as a licence to shoot from the hip every time something or someone crosses our own personal line, opinion, or feeling.

This very dilemma troubled me recently. My initial reaction was to confront the source of my disagreement both in person and content. Fortunately, I allowed some time to pass while the issue percolated in my mind and I am glad it worked out that way. Not because I had changed my mind, far from it, because I still feel the same about the person and the problem it gives me, and most likely some other folks looking on.

In war we talk about collateral damage. Not the direct hits, or the intended targets, but the property and people who were on the edges of the line of fire. Bringing this issue up in a public arena would have affected a group of people who a) might have disagreed anyway, or b) had not seen the original problem, and now knowing it, might take their own action and walk away. I wouldn’t want to be responsible for that outcome, and c) my own reputation and standing could be tainted and tarnished for all time.

The final, and most important consideration for staying silent is that it allows the person who caused my own worry and concern, to move on, and perhaps allow them to change. In His infinite wisdom, God has granted me grace when I have failed Him, so I must give grace to others. Of course, they may not believe they did any wrong, and a public outing makes any change (if it was seen as necessary) unlikely. On a personal and more human front, if the same thing happened again, I would come to another conclusion. Once bitten, twice shy as the old saying goes!

Christmas Cheer?

It’s December, and the Christmas selling frenzy season is already in full swing! I confess to being a lover of the season. I love the trees, the tinsel, the presents, the family meals, and the list could go on. It is too easy to see that the season revolves around a tubby, red suited man who magically drops through chimneys, and wriggles through letterboxes and keyholes with ease.

In those far off days when I worked for a living, a few guys had a conversation about the meaning of Christmas, and one piped up that we shouldn’t spoil it with all that religious stuff! That was years ago, and it is worse today. We are even encouraged to say ‘Happy Holidays’, and write ‘Merry Xmas’. Some local councils are even lobbied to stop displaying the manger scene. We have effectively presided over a devaluation of the real meaning of Christmas. In those well used words, the clue is in the name my friends, it is CHRISTmas!!

We can choose how we celebrate this time, either with or without the true reason for the season in our heart. We don’t have to acknowledge it, but it is still a celebration of HIS day, not Santa’s, no matter how Godless we are, or how much we love the red suited guy as he guides his reindeer drawn sleigh across the sky. Come to think of it, that concept really does require a lot of faith, and more than the truth of the virgin birth.

So however you choose to celebrate, believer or not, please keep in mind that there are many poor, ordinary folks who will not be able to afford the turkey dinner, or eat with family, and who may only possess the clothes on their back. Many of us are blessed by this same Christ of Christmas, and we should remember, and if possible help those who are less fortunate. Sure, there are seasonal food kitchens and shelters for the homeless, but we cannot leave it all to the social services, or indeed to Santa who is totally powerless to help. We all have a responsibility to give to others in measure of the blessings we have received. That works at national charity, church, and personal levels too, so this year, help spread some real Christmas Cheer. Just a thought.