There's A Time For Everything

A time to be born, and a time to die;

a time to plant, and a time to reap.

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 be far from embraces.

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 be silent, and a time to speak.

A time to love, and a time to hate;

a time of war, and a time of peace.

Have your heard these words before?

I heard these words as part of the Readings this morning - from the Biblical book of Ecclesiastes (Chap 3: 2-8)

Also, the cantor at the Mass (yours truly!) could only think of one hymn that perfectly encapsulated the theme of TIME... In His Time - Maranatha Music.

As the day progressed, another song came into my head - a folk rock song with no biblical leanings that I know of. When I checked the lyrics, I was pleasantly surprised that they matched those from the same passage of Ecclesiastes. Turn Turn Turn - an international hit that reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts for The Byrds in December 1965 was written by Pete Seeger in the late 1950s.

The passage has even more significance today - being the day of the Autumnal Equinox  - a phenomenon we learnt about in school geography. September 22/23 is officially designated as the day that the sun crosses the Equator marking the change of seasons. While the Northern Hemispere heads for winter, the bulk of my family based in New Zealand are looking forward to summer. Yes, the sun is responsible for the seasons. And the Seasons in the Sun. The song written and performed in French by the Belgian poet-composer Jacques Brel in 1961, was translated by Rod McKuen and subsequently released by The Kingston Trio in 1964. You possibly heard the song in the 1999 recording by Westlife or the 2004 version by Nirvana - but I like this version.

And as TIME moves ahead and the SEASONS change, I'll leave you with a quote to remember and reflect...