Navigating the Seasons Change
“Hold on just a little while longer, everything’s gonna be alright.”
The older I get, the more I relate to life moving in seasons. My mind revisits memories of growing up in Grant Chapel A.M.E. Church hearing the elders always referencing Ecclesiastes 3:1-8:
Everything Has Its Time
1 For everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven:
2 a time to be born and a time to die;
a time to plant and a time to pluck up what is planted;
3 a time to kill and a time to heal;
a time to break down and a time to build up;
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn and a time to dance;
5 a time to throw away stones and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing;
6 a time to seek and a time to lose;
a time to keep and a time to throw away;
7 a time to tear and a time to sew;
a time to keep silent and a time to speak;
8 a time to love and a time to hate;
a time for war and a time for peace.
New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
I always understood this text conceptually, but now as an adult, I feel what it means. I tend to notice more frequently when life shifts me from a period of joy into a period of grief. It stings a little bit more when I spend months putting in the hard work of growing myself and bettering myself, only to feel like the harvest is nowhere in sight. I understand the lyrics, “Time is filled with swift transition,” a lot more these days as the mornings can look much different than the evenings. If I am being honest, I find myself sharing this testimony this evening as I am weary and wondering when the seasons will change.
Since Fall 2019, I have revisited seasons of grief as so many loved ones have departed my life. Watching family, elders, and friends leave this realm for the next has made grief a frequent companion in my life. There’s also health and navigating harder changes on my body, I invest in things to make me better, and also mourn the body that no longer exists. While these periods have been immensely hard, I have also witnessed my healing mentally and emotionally in ways that have been a soothing balm as I navigate the various unknowns in life. It’s amazing how the hard truth can be a healing balm in challenging times. So it doesn’t shock me as I sit to share my thoughts that the wisdom of my elders and ancestors return to me as I wonder, “How do you navigate the seasons changing without falling apart?”
As I meditate on this question, I don’t think there is a guaranteed solution. I don’t believe we will ever fully understand why things happen, but I’ve made peace with that because I realize for myself it’s not necessarily about the solution, but the process. If we knew how to eliminate suffering and all the ills of the world, my thoughts would be a lot different on this subject. However, one thing the seasons have taught me is that the solution is not what always helps me or changes me, it’s the process. It’s being shown how to prepare the soil so that seeds can grow. It’s about learning how much sun is good or too much; how much water is nourishing and how much is overwhelming. It’s noticing how you talk to yourself and others throughout the process. What tools and lessons have you gained to prepare for the next season?
This leads me back to that elder and ancestral knowledge I mentioned earlier. I think of the wisdom in their use of scripture, cultural sayings, and our songs and I realize they understand that the balm to navigating the swift changes of time, is having something to root yourself in, something to hold onto. Just like a seed or bulb takes root in the soil, we root ourselves in things too. Whether it be in faith, morals, science, experience, or another source, we all must find something to root ourselves in and hold on to. The world offers a lot of ways to ground yourself, but let’s be honest, not every option is a healthy one. I find myself asking, “How do I know if I am rooted in the right things?”
The answer I received in this meditation is, “You will know if the seasons change.”
While seasons of grief may be more familiar than joy at the moment, it should never be a permanent state. I know that there is a sweetness to life. There is love, joy, peace, excitement, laughter, all things we should be experiencing, so if my beliefs take root in something that convinces me suffering is all there is for me, then I know I have planted myself in the wrong garden. Also, notice how you impact the gardens of those around you.
I can’t tell you how or when the seasons change, but they will change.
Sometimes that sweeter harvest is right around the corner and we just have to hold on just a little while longer. Sometimes people and experiences show up and help us to see how the seeds have grown or ways to tend to our gardens while we wait. Sometimes the harvest time might have to shift so that we can reap the best outcomes. Regardless the seasons will change, and so will the songs we sing.
So if you’re feeling restless, hopeless, scared, angry, or whatever feeling about a delayed harvest or witnessing harder seasons more often, I beg you to hold on just a little while longer. You’re not alone, and we have the wisdom of those who have tended to their gardens much longer than we have.
Although times may be hard, they are not forever.
Pay attention to where you are planting yourself, where you are expecting things to grow, and what’s nurturing it. One thing is for sure, everything absolutely has its time. However, we get to choose how we navigate each season and change.
