A Time for Everything

It was the best of times; it was the worst of times…and thus begins the famous Charles Dickens novel “A Tale of Two Cities”.  I remember having to read this book in high school, but since that’s been a few years I don’t really remember the story, but that opening line sure stuck.  

But this opening did make me think about the time we live in.  Are we now living in the “best of times” or the “worst of times”, or is it possible that it is both? 

Perhaps most every generation feels this way.  There is so much good in the world to enjoy.  And then there is a lot of bad stuff too.  How do we reconcile this life experience of the good and the bad.  How do we live and laugh and love and also mourn and cry and despair.  Life is hard, and it can be tough, but it can also be beautiful.  Sometimes the dog dies, but then a grandchild is born.  There is sadness, and then there is pure joy.   

So, what then, do we do with all of this.  How do we navigate the beautiful and messy and wonderful and painful experience of being human…

Sometimes we need to embrace it, and sometimes just endure it.

We need to be open but sometimes be on guard.

Do not be afraid but sometimes take shelter.    

Be vulnerable and open, but don’t be dumb.   

Do the best you can at the time with what you have.  We can’t know everything, and we can’t be everything to everyone.  But we can do our part, whatever that may be. 

“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, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.”

The Book of Ecclesiastes