What Time Is It Now?

THURS., FEB. 5, 1998, 3:27 PM
FARM, STUDY

I have suggested that Our next Ruminations should focus on a return to that strange, wonderful poem in Ecclesiastes… “for everything there is a season…” I have told you… and I do so again… that I like and am particularly pleased with this small “book” and its “time to’s” as a portion of Holy Scripture. In a way it is saying, “The earth is the Lord’s… and it is not, finally, a contest between good and evil. Yes, o son, the earth scene could be different, but that would not necessarily be better.

In one sense, much of what goes on in the earth could be called “a chasing after wind”. Yet it is equally true that what I see happening is living action, which often has value beyond… quite beyond… what is initially perceived. Many deaths have been reported lately (and don’t be surprised if this keeps up!)… by lethal injection, the result of incautious aviation, from cold and other weather phenomena, from… Each death seems tragic to some among the living, but each is a part of the balancing of life for which I am responsible. The balance is still too heavy toward bodily life, and I shall be responsible for more deaths in the future. And only a few will understand why I must allow such traumatic balancing.

“A time to kill and a time to heal” offers a suggestion, at least, of one way I shall encourage this necessary rebalancing. Healing is part art and part science. I have no great objection to your complex, high-tech medical system, even as I often see it as a great waster of time, talent, and money. Its main purpose is to abet and encourage the healing processes. When healing does not take place, for many diverse and competing causes, the result is killing.

Killing can be quite purposeful or quite accidental. Karla Faye was killed because a substance was injected into her, causing damage which she could not heal. This was seen as a more merciful killing than the wild wielding of a pickax that brought the death of her victims. At the other extreme were the skiers in the Italian Alps, whose violent deaths came as a result of the accidental cutting of a cable by a low-flying plane, quite accidentally. Their injuries were those that could not heal.

Another of these perceptions that is a hard one for you is… “a time to keep, and a time to cast away”. As you moved from your big office you did much “casting away”, but you look around this small study/sanctuary (remember that term, from many years back!?) and you see too much that has been kept… and much that should be better organized or, finally, cast away. It is hard for you, but it must needs be done.

Another balance that you must face is… a time to seek and a time to lose. You have been, in your working career, fairly aggressive in seeking what has seems best for you to seek… and quite willing not to compete for more than you could handle. Now, in establishing your new rhythm, you need to seriously consider what you still should seek and what you are willing to lose. You know… and I know… that you should increasingly seek Me, Holy Spirit, which is made easy by My seeking you, at the same time. You are quite capable of doing this, and it is rather simple now, because of Our fairly long relationship. So… seek Me and don’t lose contact. Do not seek time-consuming community or professional tasks, even as you know that you may soon lose the choice of those who have sought you in the past.

“A time to mourn and a time to dance” pushes you to consider the physical capacities you are losing. It is all right that you do mourn certain losses, and, even, that you try to recapture some of these. Yet you know Me well enough to expect Me to emphasize the positive: dance in appreciation of what you still have, rather than too much lamentation over losses… or apparent losses. It is a time to laugh, to dance, even if healing is not as complete as you’d wish.