Lent Day 22: March 17

Lenten Reflection for Day 22

Date: Saturday March 17, 2012

Author: John Harris

Bible Passage: Ecclesiastes 3:1–4, 7 (NRSV)

¹ For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: ² a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; ³ a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; ⁴ a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;⁷ a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

Reflection: For those of us who came of age in the 60s’, we may remember Pete Seeger’s use of this text for his song “Turn! Turn! Turn!” that was later famously recorded by Roger McGuinn and The Byrds in 1965. The song was so poetic that it inspired me to read the whole book of Ecclesiastes as a cynical and “know it all” teenager. Having recently read the same text as a church lector on New Year’s Day (appropriate as we mark the passage of time!) and as part of a funeral service (when time no longer matters!), I was struck by its impact on me as I enter the sixth decade of my life.

For me, the text tells me to keep time “in perspective.” For those of you who ski Mt. Sunapee, there is a chair lift that has a pole on the way up that says, “Relax, you are on Mt. Sunapee time.” Which is a rather nice way of telling all those harried big city folk that got up at 5 a.m. to ski, to take a deep breath and enjoy the lakes, mountains, and valleys that God put there for our viewing pleasure. Forget the frenetic Boston driving, the idea that you have to be any place at any given time, and enjoy this “sacred time” of recreation.

Sacred time or “liturgical time,” as Kathleen Norris calls it, is, like all time, a gift from God. It is a time to “carry everything to God in prayer,” to read and meditate on the word of God, to give back to God the gift of time, “to wait,” as Kathleen Norris says, attentively in stillness rather than always pushing ‘to get the job done.” Even God took the time to rest in stillness after the exhausting task of creation! As Pete Seeger concludes at the end of “Turn! Turn! Turn!,” –“it is not too late!” Indeed, it is not! There is a time for everything under heaven—carve out some sacred time for yourself and listen in the stillness for God’s voice.

Prayer: God, you give us the gift of time. Help us keep time in perspective as we use it to glorify you and serve our neighbor. Help us to make good use of time rather than us being manipulated by time. But most of all, Lord, help us to develop sacred time to be and to walk with You. Amen.