A moment with Bill It bears repeating and those who have heard me speak at funerals have heard me repeat these words of comfort. The writer of Ecclesiastes writes these words in chapter 3: There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens; a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to gather together and a time to scatter, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. Years ago Al Cadenhead alerted me to the repetition of this passage of scripture. Most agree that this is about the cycle of life; a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to build and a time to tear down. The writer states there is a time to gather stones and a time to scatter them and it seems as if he repeats what has been written, a time to gather and a time to scatter. What is this about? It seems the first time the phrase is used there is reference to material things. We gather together or collect things: coins, baseball cards, antiques, cars, bottle caps. We also give away or sell, or as the writer says, we scatter them; we have a yard sale, we list things on Craigs List or E-bay, we give them to people we care about. The writer seems to say the same thing again, we gather and we scatter. But this time the writer is not talking about possessions, like stones. Rather, I think, the reference is to memories or stories of life. Most of us have loss in our life. We lose loved ones to death or divorce. We lose a job, our health, status, money, friendships, you name it. When we lose, we grieve. When we grieve, we need to tell stories about what we have lost. Some of the stories are good stories; they help us get through our grief. Other stories are difficult stories and trap us in grief. The writer of Ecclesiastes is encouraging us to hold on to the good memories, the good stories and to let go of the difficult stories. When we are able to do this we mourn, we cry, we remember and we begin to deal with our loss. God has created each of us to grieve when we lose. The good news is that God goes with us through our loss, particularly when we are able to share memories. Bill Share this with a friend. Give them the gift of inspiration. #Jesus #Christian #Church #Faith
Posted on: Mon, 03 Nov 2014 15:30:01 +0000