When Seasons Collide

Ah, the first snow.  My nephew's joy eclipsed mine - by just a little bit.  He loves snow so much!  Listening to his squeal and then watching his eyes light up was sweet to watch.  Such beauty to behold - in him and the snow!

As I drove to work, I was struck by how the seasons collided overnight.  Yesterday boasted leaves fluttering to the ground from nearly barren trees.  Today, those trees were lined in white and the fallen leaves were covered in a blanket of snow.  Seasons collided.

This visual brought to mind Ecclesiastes 3:1-8:

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.

What came to mind, though, is that sometimes, the seasons of our life collide, too, just as the snow collided with the autumn weather.  We want things to be neatly wrapped up, our times of healing to be completely separated from the times of pain; our times of dancing devoid of any mourning; the time for war to end completely so that peace will reign.  But, seasons collide.

It's how we approach the collision that show our maturity.  

Last night, there was an car accident on my street.  No traffic could travel north due to the collision.  Two neighborhood busybodies decided to direct traffic away from the scene, at first furiously waving down oncoming cars, yelling at them to turn back.  Well, it was dark and since it was cooler, no one had their windows down.  So their waving and screaming went unnoticed.  One of them finally went in and grabbed some flashlights so their waving at least was a little more effective.  You know what the best deterrent was, though?  Police lights.  The police approached the collision with wisdom, knowing exactly to handle the situation.  Each situation they come across is unique, but their training goes a long way to help them know how to approach things, how to begin, what will be required of them and even the practical thinking to handle things that don't always occur.  

I've experienced a lot of grief over the past few months.  But I've also experienced a lot of joy.  Sometimes I would (and still do) feel guilty for allowing myself to have fun, knowing the sadness that abounds around me.  Recently I even choose not to attend a concert I had really wanted to go to because I had a hard time justifying spending the money and having fun when a friend was losing his battle with a heart attack and his family mourned at his bedside. I could have gone, likely no one would have judged me, but the seasons collided and I couldn't reconcile the two.

Seasons of our life don't begin and end perfectly, just like the weather.  It's November.  There should be a chill in the air requiring jackets and some scarves...not snow boots.  When summer hit, we were not thrilled with the 50-60 degree weather that kept coming back.  When we're ready to be done with the long winter, snow in April and May are NOT welcomed.

But it happens.  And we must choose our response.  Today I saw the beauty in the seasonal collision.  The trees barely clinging to leaves were softly wrapped in snow creating a beautiful reminder to me that the seasons can collide and bring beauty and joy.  The beauty, though, is in my response.  I chose joy today.