A New Season

Loved all the time I got to spend outdoors this summer!

“So, the leaves are changing again. They are the sign of a new season but I’m not ready for the summer to be over yet.”

I had just grabbed breakfast with a youth and I was walking them home. I thought about this comment, unsure of why it stuck out to me. Then I thought, “A new season is coming.”

Last week I reviewed my summer. I thought about all the conversations I had over the last few months, and a theme emerged – the unknown of the coming season. I was reminded of the following poem by Solomon.

For everything there is a season, and a time for every 

matter under heaven:

A time to be born, and a time to die;

a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;

a time to kill, and a time to heal;

a time to break down, and a time to build up;

a time to weep, and a time to laugh;

a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;

a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

a time to seek, and a time to lose;

a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

a time to tear, and a time to sew;

a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

a time to love, and a time to hate;

a time for war, and a time for peace.

There is a time for everything. This fall is a new season for everyone, but for many of my young friends, there is a lot of uncertainty weaved into the newness. Many of them are moving in to their young adult lives, and they are having trouble adjusting to being an adult in the midst of a pandemic. This poem reminds me that there is always a balance in life. This year has been difficult for many of us, and this poem brings the hope that time can and does balance our experiences in the world. We weep and we laugh, both. We embrace and we refrain from embracing, both. There is a time to mourn and a time to dance, both. 

This season, many youth are experiencing seasons of difficulty and looking ahead to many unknowns. And in all of the difficulty and monotony, in all of the unknowns and fears, we can remember that there is a promise of balance, goodness, hope, beauty and life, all in its time. 

- Amy Seiler