Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
For everything there is a season, and a time for every [a]purpose under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which 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 rend, 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.
On Friday, April 30 my family was blessed to be able to attend at the reopening of the Disneyland Resort and was at Disney California Adventure. I won’t go into the long story, but we were at Disneyland the last day it was opened March 13, 2020 and we wanted to be there when they were allowed to be open again. Disneyland has a special place in our family memories, as it does for many of you.
I was somewhat caught off guard by the many emotions I felt while coming back to the park. I, like many people, was happy and excited just to be in the parking structure! People were honking their horns in a good way expressing their happiness. There was anticipation and excitement in the air as we went through the health and safety checks. When walking to the parks from the parking structure, there is no tram service right now, I was just so happy to be on the property and when I saw the line of cast members waving and welcoming us “home” the tears of joy started flowing. It truly was a magical day.
This scripture verse has always been near to my heart for it speaks of the cycles of our lives. I also love the song Turn, Turn, Turn by the Byrds, so I hear that in my head as well as I read this scripture. Our world has been on a cycle that none of us wanted or expected to be on, now that we are starting to move out of that cycle, we are all experiencing a lot of different emotions at different times, and that is all ok. We are not all in the same place in venturing out, and that is ok. We are always in different places in our lives. What we need to remember is that God is with us every step of our journey. That all the emotions that we might be feeling right now because of our world opening up again from joy, sadness to anxiety and fear are all valid, real, and necessary. God gave us those emotions for a reason, to help us to live life to the fullest and to protect us while doing so. May we all give each other grace and understanding as we open up our lives again.
Gracious and Loving God, We thank you for the gift of life. We thank you for the gift of your grace and love. Help us to be able to live our lives according to how You would live them, by showing your joy, love and grace to all of Your creation. We are blessed to be in relationship with You, help us to act like it. Help us to live more fully into the ways that Jesus taught us. And let us never forget that You are with us during all the ups, downs, joys and sorrows that make up our lives. Amen
Grace & Peace, Suzanne