Do you find it frustrating, maybe even annoying, when a song keeps playing nonstop in your head? I’m not talking about the one that you’ve heard recently; I’m talking about the one that you have no recollection of hearing, possibly for decades. That’s where I’ve been these past few days with a song The Byrds recorded in 1965 entitled, Turn! Turn! Turn! To Everything There is a Season.*
What’s that all about! I never paid much attention to it then— perhaps because I was too busy being newly married—so why now? Why have the first two lines been playing over and over in my head? And only the first two lines, since I didn’t know it in 1965, and I don’t know it now! Maybe it’s because the seasons are changing and I don’t want to let go of the summer days at our home-away-from-home in the Muskokas. Maybe it’s because the colder weather of Fall is here. (Not that Autumn isn’t beautiful; it’s just that it’s one step closer to Winter!) Or maybe it’s because another birthday is about to happen to me.
Wait a minute! Did I say “happen to me” as though it was a bad thing, like breaking my leg or getting poison ivy? It begs me to ask, Why is it that when we reach a certain age—when we flip the calendar—and realize that another year has passed, we hesitate to admit we are having another birthday?
Too many people, when they get old, think that they have to live by the calendar.
Former Astronaut, John Glenn
This past summer I’ve been struggling with a bad knee. It slowed me down way too much, and in frustration I said to my friend, “I’m too young to be this old!” And we both had a good laugh. But I meant it! Age was creeping up on my body, but my mind was decades behind! Despite the momentary frustration, I told my friend that I believe the word old in describing oneself has a negative sound to it. But older has an uplifting, positive tone, linking with the word wiser. One is never old, just older and wiser. I suppose it’s a mind game, right up there with the glass being either half full or half empty.
Is not wisdom found among the aged? Does not long life bring understanding?
Job 12:12
In the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon provides a look at living life. But what I found fascinating is that Solomon’s words were sung by The Byrds.
To everything – turn, turn, turn
There is a season – turn, turn, turn
And a time to every purpose under heaven
A time to be born, a time to die
A time to plant, a time to reap
A time to kill, a time to heal
A time to laugh, a time to weep
etc.
It was as though Ecclesiastes 3 had made it to the hit parade in 1965!
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,
etc.
Solomon goes on to say…
What do workers gain from their toil?
I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race.
He has made everything beautiful in its time.
He has also set eternity in the human heart;
yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy
and to do good while they live.
That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction
in all their toil—this is the gift of God.
I know that everything God does will endure forever;
nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it.
God does it so that people will fear him.
Ecclesiastes 3:9-14
Me and my sister, Mary.
For me, my birthdays are a reminder that while I still have breath, I have to believe I can still make a difference, not only in my own life, but in the lives of others. The recent news of my sister’s illness reminded me once again that life is very precious and way too short, and I need to take every opportunity to laugh, celebrate, build relationships, and share the love of Christ… while there is time.
Only one life,’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.
C. T. Studd
Happy Birthday to all my friends whose birthdays I’ve missed. I’ll think of you as I enjoy mine!
* Turn! Turn! Turn, adapted from Ecclesiastics by Pete Seeger in the late 1950s, holds the distinction as the #1 hit with the oldest lyrics and was released by The Byrds on October 1, 1965.
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