Kill & Heal

Ecclesiastes Chapter 3.  A Time for Everything.

There is nothing new under the sun.  To everything there is a season.  A time to weep.  A time to laugh.  Consider this: the author of Ecclesiastes offers us wisdom about life, about balance, about how to live life to the fullest and understand the meaning of life. ~ Solomon. 

Planting and Uprooting - "a time to plant and a time to uproot"

Whether farmer or city-dweller, most people realize there is a certain time of the year to plant crops and vegetables. Planting comes in the spring. That's why it's called "planting season". The ground is plowed, tilled, and weeded. Seeds are planted, watered, and fertilized.  Planting is the beginning, the start of new life. The process begins with the basics.  Dirt.  And a single seed. And the seed must die. And seem to decay. This life process become visible when the seed begins to sprout. As it rises above the ground and is joined by other seeds, a glimpse of the potential plant emerges. A small bean seed can become a tall and strong stalk, dwarfing the original seed many times over. The balance in life, and in nature, includes harvesting time. 

A time to uproot.  The moment when a plant matures and is ripe for the picking. Uprooting a vegetable for harvest is good. It has been a time of celebration for peoples and cultures across the globe, and across the centuries. The time to uproot may include removing weeds from your yard, or a field of crops. The good plant may be choked and hurt if the weeds are not uprooted. Can the good in your life, your times of planting, be upset? Can the weeds in your relationships with others create problems? Are there important times of uprooting in your life that may be good?  And how does planting and uprooting fit with the rest of your life?

Kill and Heal - "a time to kill and a time to heal"

To everything there is a season, a time to kill? Wow!  How can that be? Why would that be?  Is it ever good, or right, to kill? Or is this just a statement, a reflection, or reality in the world? A time to kill.  It's harsh.  It's direct.  It's difficult to fathom, to fully understand. People do kill people.  A sad reality. To kill locust, ants, grasshoppers, even by the thousands, that's a different situation.

To everything there is a season, a time to heal. "To heal", this is in contrast to, "to kill".  The balance in life.  A time to heal can be seen daily as the need is great.  For victims of earthquakes, floods, and the tornado, healing is most welcome. Healing is good.  Are healing and killing The Ying and the Yang? We see the world through the eyes of emotion.  And this can be a very good thing at times. Consider Solomon's words.  A time to kill.  A time to heal.  One happens.  The other responds.

Prayer:  God of all things and all time, help us to observe those times in our world as Solomon advises in Ecclesiastes.  Help us to live full lives in every season we face. Amen