TO EVERY SEASON...TURN, TURN, TURN, AND SEEK PEACE AND JOY
Sure the Byrds made it a mildly successful folk tune in the viet Nam era. However, just like Elvis did so often, these folks pinched the words from another source. Now you can’t find the “heartbreak Hotel” in Judea, but you only need take a peak at another King’s words to find Solomon cranked out this classic in Ecclesiastes. Lo and as I recall the song mentions “gathering Stones together”. Who knew Mick, Keith, and the lot would still be getting satisfaction after all these years?
Okay this effort isn’t meant to be a snippet left on the cutting room floor from “The School of Rock”—it’s about being late. September (no I’m not launching into Maggie May). You see, we are rolling toward the first day of fall and the season that was summer is about to turn, turn, turn and I’m left here wondering (like many of you) what in the world happened to Summer? Wasn’t it just the 4th of July? I mean wasn’t it just yesterday I was watching the great hot dog eating contest sponsored by Nathan’s where this guy packed away 60+ hot dogs in 10 minutes?
Holy Mustard and relish Batman that’s a lot of tube steak. Then again, Americans love their hot dogs. In the summer, we eat an estimated 7 Billion hot dogs every year and spend 2.5 Billion dollars on hot dogs. The unofficial world’s record price for any given hot dog was recorded on the West Coast and rang up at $169.00Now, ballpark prices are out of control, but this wasn’t a Dodger dog thank goodness. While that pushed the limits of price, the world record holder for size is a reported 668 pounder.
Alright we’ve covered rock music and hot dogs..and they may have a lot do with summer and peace and joy, butI’ve been waiting for my internal control to come along and start writing about “seasons” because that’s the real topic here...and this is the season to make those thoughts clear.
One song lyric that emerged when writing about the lessons Ive learned in life is that every dream has a season if you don’t let apathy win. I believe that and yet I’m not sure I believe in the “norm” when it comes to seasons. The norm is things are born, they experience a childhood full of growth and experimentation, they reach an adulthood where they are stable and “prosper”, and then they decline. Another way to look at this is through the lens of a fruit tree. The tree grows from a seed, eventually grows into a state where the tree produces fruit containing seeds, drops those seeds by letting the fruit ripen and fall away to the ground and then the fruit rots away letting the seeds have a chance to start the growth of another tree. The difference here is that the tree gives back and passes along the essence along. Finally, I have learned to look at seasons as not quite as inevitable for people as they are for some other things. If someone gets up each morning, meditate3s or prays or and prays (or does anything that reflects their beliefs, and then dedicates themzselves to the notion that today is a “new” day, then maybe each day becomes it’s own new season. Each day contains a rebirth or dedication. Each day includes experimentation and learning. Each day. Has a part where. You pass things along or share your gifts. At the end of the day, you lay down the remains of the day knowing that if there is a tomorrow you will start anew.
Yes what I’m suggesting is that every day has it’s seasons and that.every day has the potential to contain changes. That’s what we can learn from the actual seasons—that things will change and so will we. as seasons pass in our lives we grow comfortable with the fact that winter will give way to spring and that summer rolls past into fall when leaves turn glorious colors and prepare to coat the ground thus producing the natural material to enrich the soil that will bring forth the next new tree. For me, when I pay attention, andam seeking peace and joy I see a lot of new trees each day. People get new jobs. People move to new locatins. People offer up artwork or things they have written. People build things that inspire others. You might argue that these things are fruit not new trees and that’s just fine with me. The point is, that if I look I see these things and that since the seasons have taught the lessons of change, it brings a sense of peace and not fear when the changes come as they will.
We all can see new trees every day—we can see growth in the trees—we see the fruit ripen and fall so trees can come forth. We experience all of. This in the here and now and it is a full experience. Again for me looking at daily seasons brings some peace and lessens the thoughts I havetyhat any given thing is happening out of season—for the feeling that things are. Taking place out of season is a thief of peace and joy. The reality is that everything happens in a season,but it is very hard to see the whole season sometimes. On the other hand, if I am intentional, I include elements of all the seasons in my day each day. Then nothing seems quite as out of place.
Wow who knew we could go from a 668 pound hot dog could find its way through to a philosophic metaphor for living through the seasons of events in life? Well... it happened and now it’s time to let the primary hot dog season go. Bring on the bon fire season, the apple cider and a new school year because now and always the times they are a changin’
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