This morning I reached for an old friend from the bookshelf – Seasons of the Heart. Catholic Sister Macrina Wiederkehr speaks of our journeys of life and faith in terms of “seasons of the heart.” I read this special book with a group of friends in my first church in Virginia, and need to be reminded of the journey we made together from time to time.
All of us journey through the seasons of the year – Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter. Many of us are aware of a journey through the seasons of the liturgical or church year – Advent, Lent, Easter, Pentecost, and lots of days of Ordinary Time . We also journey through seasons of the heart – wonder and hope, suffering and love, healing and faith – and we need to grow in our awareness of this heart journey.
“The seasons of my heart change like the seasons of the field,” she writes. “There are seasons of wonder and hope, seasons of suffering and love, seasons of healing. There are seasons of dying and rising, seasons of faith.” She challenges us to watch for the change of seasons as we journey through life, and to notice how one season leads to another, and how we grow and change through life experiences.
Looking back over my life I can see that I have journeyed through those seasons, not once, but again and again; they are the seasons of my spiritual journey. While I have favorite seasons of the heart, just as I have favorite seasons of the year, I’ve learned to appreciate the gifts to be found in every season.
Sister Macrina writes, “My feet have always taken me to places where my heart has whispered I should go. My heart has been a wonderful teacher…Watch for the change of seasons as you walk, and notice how bits of other seasons linger in every walk.”
In I Samuel 16, we’re reminded that “God looks on the heart.” God is with us in the changing seasons of our hearts, and our lives, ever at work planting and plucking up, gathering and casting away, building up and tearing down … and making all things new. (Ecclesiastes 3)
In “A Morning Prayer”, Sister Macrina asks this of the Lord:
Shine on us, in us,
and through us,
just as your sun shines in the sky.
Give us enough of your light
that we may see the new
greening power
within us.
Give us
enough lightning and storms
to shake up our soil,
enough wind
to keep us spirited,
enough death to bring us life,
and enough goodness
to help us remember who we are.
Giving thanks for times of remembering important teachings on my journey of life and faith, for those who made that season of the journey with me, and for those streams of mercy, never ceasing.
Elizabeth
Sometimes it’s difficult to know how to be of help to one another. If only we could find the words to make things better, to bring that glimmer of hope and new perspective, to help settle disagreements and bring healing and reconciliation. Years ago I read a poem by Ann Weems that helps me through such times.
“I’d Write For You a Rainbow”
If I could, I’d write for you a rainbow
And splash it with all the colors of God
And hang it in the window of your being
So that each new God’s morning
Your eyes would open first to Hope and Promise.
If I could, I’d wipe away your tears
And hold you close forever in shalom
But God never promised I could write a rainbow,
Never promised I could suffer for you,
Only promised that I could love you.
That I do.
We are called to love one another as Jesus has loved us, and we grow in our understanding of just how to go about this by following his example and his leading. As we see in scripture all the ways Jesus went about loving others, we see a little more clearly how we might follow him. There’s a big difference in fixing people and loving them; there’s a big different in finding solutions for folks and helping them to find solutions. When we love one another in all the ways we can, our love helps to create a space for God’s love to come in and do the rest, completing the needed work of grace.
Giving thanks for every opportunity to be God’s love to another, for the assurance that God is at work in all things for the good of all involved, and for those streams of mercy, never ceasing.
Elizabeth
“When does a story truly begin? In life, there are seldom clear-cut beginnings, those moments when we can, in looking back, say that everything started. Yet there are moments when fate intersects with our daily lives, setting in motion a sequence of events whose outcome we could never have foreseen.” (from A Bend in the Road, by Nicholas Sparks)
As we live our lives, there are many “bends in the road,” that stop us in our tracks or turn us in new directions. As one door closes, others open; when all that has been is no longer, there’s always something new; in every ending, there’s the possibility of a new beginning. As I reflect on my journey of life and faith, those “bends in the road” come again and again – bringing unexpected or necessary endings, points of turning in another direction, and a renewed sense of purpose and meaning in life.
While I like the quote from A Bend in the Road, this phrase is troubling to me – “When fate intersects in our daily lives…” I’ve always let the words of Romans 8:28 help me to deal with each “bend in the road” of my life - “God works in all things for good for those who love the Lord.” When things happen, I try to reassure myself that God is working in this circumstance or that one, for good, even if it doesn’t seem so at the moment. Reminding myself of this truth helps me to regain my perspective and keep my footing on the slippery slopes of some seasons of life.
I find that the story of my life has many beginnings and endings and beginnings again, and that God has been working in all experiences that have come my way, tucking bits and pieces of my experience back into the fabric of my life in new and healing ways. While I wouldn’t choose to re-live some chapters of my journey, I see each chapter as a part of the ongoing work of God’s grace in the book of my life.
So many times we lose our perspective when we face a “bend in the road”; lose sight of the truth that God is with us, and we forget God’s promise to “work in all things for good.” Whatever circumstances we are facing, whatever “bend in the road” lies before us, let us remember that is God is working in all things for good, and that we are safe in God’s care and keeping.
Giving thanks for the “remembered goodness” of God in every season of life, and for those streams of mercy, never ceasing.
Elizabeth