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 keep and a time to throw away,
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. (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 NIV)
When I wrote this post I had spent most of the day reading, writing, watching clouds, thinking and feeling. It was a day of rest, of sorts, even though we also attended a community Memorial Day service, visited my mother-in-law, and made [another] trip to Menards. Overall, though, it was a quieter day.
I was thinking about a scene in Madeleine L’Engle’s fantasy book A Swiftly Tilting Planet. The teen Charles Wallace and the unicorn Gaudior had been time traveling, trying to solve a mystery and avert a disaster, and were attacked. In this scene they landed on Gaudior’s home planet for a brief break from the battle and for some healing and restoration. Gaudior’s nourishment came from the wind and the moonlight, and in this scene they observed a newly hatched baby unicorn.
As the baby [unicorn] had been following Gaudior in the steps of the dance, so it imitated him now, eagerly trying to drink moonlight, the rays dribbling from its young and inexperienced lips and breaking like crystal on the snow. Again it tried, looking at Gaudior, until it was thirstily and tidily swallowing the light as it was tipped out from the curve of the moon.
Close your eyes, tap into your childhood imagination, and imagine drinking the wind or eating the moonlight. What a treat! No searching for water or food, just ingesting the easiest of all things to find – light and air. What joy!
Now, do you remember doing something that “only kids” do? A somersault? Twirling with your arms flung out in abandon? Running and laughing so hard you fall down? What joy!
The writer of our passage above from Ecclesiastes was trying to be realistic about all the different sides of life. It’s easy for us in our modern world to see all the “negative” things on this list, but, perhaps, you and I need to lean in a bit to the things on the “positive” side of the list. There is a time to BUILD, to LAUGH, to DANCE, to EMBRACE, and to LOVE. What joy!
Today, let us be mindful of the beauty and joy of everyday life as we drink the wind or eat the sunshine. Let us build, laugh, dance, embrace, and love with abandon!
God of Joy,
Thank you for the beautiful stories that remind us of the joy and wonder of childhood. Thank you for your Word, which encourages us to enjoy all the gifts of this life. Help us today to be builders, laughers, dancers, embracers, and lovers of those around us. Remind us to be mindful of your provision, your gifts, and your heart full of love and joy for us. We ask this in Jesus’s name. Amen.