A Time to Every Purpose

Cliche', I know.  And yet the reason certain phrases or ideas become cliche', or oft-repeated, is because they are eternal truths, whose time never fades because their meaning never fades.

As the timeless scripture from The Holy Bible, Ecclesiastes, Chapter Three,  goes: 

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the 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....


Then I'm sure we could all sing along with the Byrds to finish that list.

Life is clearly divided into unique phases, when certain activities are called for and appropriate, and others may have to be either carefully scheduled in, or put on the back burner receiving no heat nor any attention at all.  Then thankfully, if we are patient and attune to changes, we realize that one season is diminishing and we recognize harbingers of the new.

For most of us, entering into new seasons becomes an introspective time and we find ourselves evaluating the past and treading cautiously on our new path.  Some roads have become very familiar to us for our having been detained on them so long.  They feel safe to us.  We hesitate to leave their structure and their comfort to embark on something strange and foreign.  It needn't matter that we are craving something fresh and new; we still proceed with uncertainty.

What new paths have you embarked upon?  How are you adapting?  Do you approach it as a gift and a challenge, or do you mourn the days when you had your feet planted firmly under you with determined direction and clear focus?

I welcome the challenge of my new season, but I often feel like I am living without a net under me.  I am learning to take risks but still feel unsteady and unbalanced.

The most notable blessing is that I don't feel altogether alone and unaided.  Clearly I am receiving direction and guidance toward my new purpose. 

There.  I said it.

I do feel like I have entered a time for a specific purpose, one which I have never felt before; one which would have been difficult before, but which now seems like a good fit.  It is as though I found a sweater on the back shelf of my closet.  It is familiar, but I must have forgotten it was there.  And now as I put it on, it feels pretty good.  I may need to grow a little so it will fit properly, but I'm up for that challenge.  I'm ready to stretch and become stronger.

I am ready to be a writer.