“Seasons,” Tambuli, Feb. 1983, 53
Seasons
“Oh, Anne! Can you believe the harvest this fall? Our trees are almost bent over with fruit.”
“Yes! Isn’t it frustrating? My basement is loaded with bushels of peaches waiting to be canned, but I just can’t get to it! I’m making some of those sequined Christmas tree ornaments. I’m so excited about Christmas!”
How often we live in another season, preparing for Christmas without using to advantage autumn’s harvest: wishing away one season of life while anticipating another. Children long to be teenagers, teens wait anxiously for marriage, young couples hope for babies, and parents long for peace and quiet. Often, at the end of this road, we find grandparents commenting that this or that season of life was the best, “If only we had realized it!”
Why can’t we allow each season to have its turn, each time its purpose?
Life isn’t just to “live through.” We are to experience each moment, enjoy it, and learn from it.
I’m reminded of the time Jesus was visiting Mary and Martha. Mary sat at the feet of Jesus and listened to his teachings. Martha, who undoubtedly felt that she was doing all the work, was “cumbered about much serving” and came to Jesus complaining, asking that he bid Mary to help her. Jesus answered, and spoke to me as well as Martha when he said:
“Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things:
“But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:41–42.)
Everyone’s life follows a unique pattern, and the seasons vary. Certainly we’re not in a race. We have eternity to experience every time and season. So, as the daffodils begin to bloom, let’s wander the fields and relish spring. Swimming and sunning are something for summer, when the daffodils are gone.
Painting by David Lindsley