Christmastide

December 26, 2022

Scripture Reading: Ecclesiastes 3:1-13

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to throw away;
a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace. –Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

I cannot read this scripture without my brain switching it to the song Turn! Turn! Turn! sung by the Birds. Because I learned it first from hearing that song, I did not realize until I read it just now that the line a time to tear, and a time to sew is referring to sewing cloth, not sowing seeds which are covered in the third line that starts with a time to plant. This realization made me think of my mother because those two activities, gardening, and sewing, all sorts of other things, were probably my mother’s favorite activities.

The list could go on. I do not see a time to write or record history anywhere on this list. Solomon is credited as the author. It seems odd that he would leave out the very thing he was doing. I wonder if he had included writing what the opposite action would have been, a time to read, perhaps. Spending time reading scripture every day grounds us in the Word of God. Reading selections that we can quote by heart and suddenly be struck by words that have always been there and seeing them from a different perspective is important.

As we begin a new year, let us dedicate daily time to read the Bible. I like following a lectionary because it forces me to read parts unfamiliar to me and some that make me uncomfortable. That reaction often makes me dive deeper into what is being said. I pull out my Interpreter Bible to see what others think or check out Strong’s Concordance to see insights from the original language.

Prayer: Lord, help us all be students of the Word both written and through our communion with you. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.