Seasoned

Blindfold me from the calendar and spin me around in time and I think I would still know that it is Back-to-School.  The smell of school supplies is in the air.  Eager youngsters have a spring in their step, feeling extra tall in their new shoes. Maybe it is the sigh of parents as they reassure themselves that they really are too young to have one in that grade. Emotions are evident. Excitement, anxiety, dread and relief – by parents and students irrespective.

This time of year is a pronounced marker in the passage of time. The anticipated summer activities are over. Memories have been made. Some opportunities were seized. Some were lost. Transition is upon us. Even the sun seems to weary from the intensity of the summer demands. Each day it rises later and retires earlier.

“To every thing there is a season…” the author of Ecclesiastics writes.

Endings give way to new beginnings.

This succession creates the unmistakable rhythm of life. A rhythm given to us by the Creator. Our bodies reflect this ebb and flow daily as sleep gives way to awakening. Our spirits are revived by weekly cycles of Sabbath rest.

To be human is to be in season. To go through seasons is to be seasoned. Herein we see the wisdom and kindness of our Father in Heaven. Though we would like time to stand still, it cannot because it must not. Our seasons are too precious and are held and determined by the One who knows no season nor needs one. James writes “In whom there is no variable, neither shadow of turning” (James 1:17b). Take heart and be encouraged by our Creator as another school calendar begins. Emotions will range and feelings will flux, but God’s constancy will provide an ever-present anchor. Be thankful for the memories of the past, purpose to take advantage of the present, and lean upon the One who has even the future in His hands.

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