For Everything... a Season
March 15, 2015 | Anita Retzlaf, Alison Jantz, Allan Klassen

"Vanity of vanities!  All is vanity.”  (NRSV)
“Utterly meaningless!  Everything is meaningless! (NIV)
“There is nothing to anything!  It is all smoke!  (The Message)

Three translations of Ecclesiastes 1:2 describe the emptiness of life in a manner that is truly shocking! To say the least the author of Ecclesiastes is in a bit of a funk. Here is someone who has lived awhile, has seen the realities of youth and now narrates his life experience as an elder.  “Vanity, meaningless, smoke or vapour”: this is a commentary on life?  It is depressing indeed to imagine that there is nothing to the human experience but illusion and emptiness even absurdity if you will.  And this is the stuff of the Bible. I invite you to go home, skim the Book of Ecclesiastes and see the many and various ways the futility of life can be described.

This questioner of life is not satisfied with simple answers.  He goes on verse after verse describing the twists and turns in life, the injustices, the riddles and the hurts stating in 7:15 “In my vain life I have seen everything.”  Does he have your attention yet?  Is there something compelling about the fact that such a helpless perspective is voiced in our scripture? The skeptic has a voice; disappointment is palpable.  Such sentiments may have a valued place in our experience of life and faith.  What we find in Ecclesiastes is not a description of God or God’s activity but rather the experience of human beings, or in this case one enquiring mind, trying to make sense of God’s purposes.

If you do read this book with some care you will find that all is not smoke and all is not in vain in the end.  But what is quite clear is that as much as this man of questions tries to uncover he eventually realizes that he will never understand the mysteries of God, the created order or the fact of our ultimate demise.  We all die; wise and foolish, rich and poor, saint and scoundrel.  There are no special circumstances and there are no exceptions. And that seems to disappoint our Quester as Eugene Peterson calls him.  And so it is that the author of Ecclesiastes runs smack into the same brick wall that Job does: He will never be enabled to understand the ways of God or become privy to the workings of the Divine Mind.  And that’s that!

So he occasionally takes a different tack.  If we cannot understand why life is the way it is we should at least enjoy it as a gift from God.  So, this much the Quester admits:  “I know that there is nothing better for [the workers – that is us ordinary folk] than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live; moreover, it is God’s gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil.” (3:12-13) This he states after he makes another major concession in his search for the meaning of life and God’s agenda.  Even though he believes that, in the words of Eugene Peterson, “life is a corkscrew that cannot be straightened, a minus that won’t add up” (1:18) the Quester admits that timing is everything. There is an order to life at least: a time for everything that we experience.

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven”:  famous words, encouraging words. Human beings have some agency after all, some control over outcomes.  Life has its seasons and its rhythm. Not all is in vain. There are times to act with intention when life’s circumstances change.  At least in the rhythm of the life cycle some things are not empty or absurd or meaningless. 

Alison Jantz
I have moved from growing up to aging… The journey may be the same, but the destination is perceptively different….now it is up to me to ensure I am equipped for life, for current responsibilities and for future realities.  This isn’t to say that I don’t consult my elders from time to time, but they no longer have a hold on what I do and how I function in the world.  Wise I am not, but responsible and relatively self-sufficient, that is the expected reality.

I am 33 years old and have lived through many different seasons.  Much of my experience has been clouded by the tendency to wish things were different – much of that time was spent letting go – of people, relationships, unrealistically high expectations of others, and ultimately, of myself…I was a bit of an idealist. Now, I am learning to live into the current reality before me…whatever that may be at any given moment.  This isn’t to say that I simply sit back and let life happen or that I always LIKE what is happening, but I am slowly realizing that there are appropriate times to encounter, and then there are other times to withdraw, times to engage, and times to retreat; to pull forward and to observe.  I don’t always trust my internal gage to do the right thing at the right time…I often wish I would have acted or spoken differently, but I am learning to slow down, contemplate, and make space.  If I think of my life as a journey of changing seasons, knowing that nothing is permanent and change is certain, then life will be more enjoyable if I am able to recognize and live into those realities instead of always fighting against them.  However, I recognize that I’m a fighter (sometimes that can be helpful and other times,  not so much). And sometimes it’s just hard.

I have a relatively new job and I am now the Library Director of the Saskatoon Theological Union.  There are 3 libraries, 4 collections, 3 staff members, and a lot of chaos. This position calls for my direction and my lead.  It is not the most comfortable position for me to be in.  I would much prefer to hang back in the wings, encourage, support, facilitate and equip others to go forth and succeed, produce and flourish.  But right now, the buck stops with me, and I don’t always know that the means, what it should look like, or what I’m supposed to do.  However, I am in the season of my life where I have to figure these things out for myself.  When I was young, I could claim ignorance and an authority figure would come up with a strategy to cope or a solution to fix the problem. I won’t be in this season forever, thankfully seasons change.  There are many things within this season that are rewarding and exciting.  I am committed to the work and the broad ecumenical community.  As this is my first career-based job and truly fits my experience, interests and education, I take it very seriously and feel privileged to have it.  But that doesn’t mean it’s easy. Sometimes it’s downright hard and a tough slog.  I am not afraid of a tough slog, however, and so I continue on.

There are appropriate times in life to do very opposite things.  There are times to build and laugh and dance, keep, seek, speak and love.  There are also times to dissemble and cry and mourn, let go, throw away or be silent.  It is common sense that we harvest in fall unless one is planting a winter crop.  Plant in spring for frozen prairie soil is not receptive to tiny seeds. Life has taught us to make hay while the sun shines.  Take advantage of one’s youth to do hard physical work. Learn to embrace the unknown and take some risks.  Keep one’s eyes open for a new venture or relationship.

Life has also taught us the lessons of letting go, of mourning the loss of a lover, a partner, a child.  The time comes when we downsize as a result of all of the gathering up that we have done.  Loosen one’s grasp of “things” and some old traditions that are no longer shared by others. Let go of the former way of doing things at home, in families, in church.  Be silent; listen, watch and wait.  Make peace, do not kill. Do not kill another’s enthusiasm or zest for life; do not douse a young person’s spirit with negativity and fear. Take time for solitude and introspection and prayer. Be open to sharing wisdom with a friend.  Be open…

Allan Klassen
Last November, when our family was celebrating my 75th birthday, our son-in-law Mark, ever the optimist and sports enthusiast, observed that sometimes in a football game the 4th quarter is the most interesting part.  Some one else has quipped that with old age comes wisdom – but that sometimes old age also comes by itself. 

The preacher in Ecclesiastes declares that “For everything there is a season … a time to be born and a time to die”.  And none of us knows the span of time in between.  But in my case it is clear that I am much closer to the second date than to the first.  So how do I deal with this reality.  My hospitalization with serious health issues in July, 2007 was a vivid reminder of my mortality, a reminder which is reinforced every day as I take my multiple medications, and again when I experience limitations on physical exertion.

What lessons am I learning about “a time for everything” as I grow older? 

I know from experience that life is a continuum of growing and gaining followed by declining and letting go.  When we are young we can’t wait to acquire a driver’s license and then at some point we may have to give it up, and probably reluctantly.

I am learning to accept and to live with my physical limitations, and may well have to do the same with mental limitations at some point.

As a result of circumstances and opportunities only partly under my control, I have enjoyed an interestingly varied and rewarding career.

Some things that I should have done or wished I had done may no longer be in the cards.
As I age I am less certain about some things and I have serious questions about things that were not issues earlier.  But I am also okay with not having answers to everything.

I am becoming more emotional.  Tears come more easily.  Sometimes at family gatherings words are hard to express as I am overwhelmed by the blessings of being surrounded by people who care for me.  Earlier pretenses of being under control with emotions well in hand are diminishing.  Maybe this is the real me.
As I move through the seasons of life, I realize more and more that to be surrounded by gracious and loving family and friends is truly a blessing.

Although we are quite different in many ways, over 50 years of marriage to Renata has been a gift of immeasurable loving generosity and acceptance.

With children competently established in careers and families, it is a delight, and source of considerable pride, to also be able to experience our grandchildren developing into young adults.

When author Chaim Potok’s young character Asher Lev asks his father why everything must die, the father’s response to his son is, “So life would be precious, Asher.  Something that you have forever is never precious”.
So for everything there is a season, and my hope is that I can live the last quarter of my life (or whatever portion is left) with a sense of serenity and gratitude, for I have been blessed in so many ways that life has been, and continues to be, very good.  It is indeed precious!

Anita
“We do not understand the mysteries of death or of life.”  That is a phrase that I often speak at funerals.  It gives me great comfort.  “We do not understand the mysteries of death or of life but at every moment life links us to God.”  That is all I need to know about the divine mystery: that is all that I need to know now in my life.  That much Ecclesiastes offers as well.  When I was young I desperately wanted to know more about the meaning of life, the meaning of suffering, the meaning of faith and on and on.  I worked hard to make sense of these things and ended up living a lot of it; life, suffering, faith, peace. For everything there is a season. I am contented with things today that I would not have been 40 years ago. That is grace.

Let us embrace the gift from God that allows us these seasons of joy, discernment, solitude, discovery, downsizing and even death. For death is a part of life. In this season of lent as we prepare for the death of the Loving One we do so knowing that Life is what we gain as our journey of faith links us to God at all times.

Prayer -  Author and Lover  of life, gather us in your embrace so that we are freed to be your people of peace, laughter, joy and mercy.  May the seasons of our lives be lived in such a way as to honour you and serve the world.  Hear our prayers, calm our hearts and send us on our way with gratitude.  AMEN