To one and all: the staff of the Connecticut Conference wishes you a very Happy New Year.
This week's author is the Rev. Da Vita D. McCallister, Associate Conference Minister for Youth and Young Adult Ministries for the Connecticut Conference, UCC.
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to throw away;
a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.
What gain have the workers from their toil? I have seen the business that God has given to everyone to be busy with.
He has made everything suitable for its time; moreover he has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live; moreover, it is God's gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil.
As I read the passage in Ecclesiastes, I can't help but think that this was written before Facebook, Twitter, Blackberry, emails, and Wii consoles. I think this because finding time for everything today seems much harder, because there are so many things I can do with my time.
Assuming I have no say-so in the first couplet -- "a time to be born and a time to die" -- the remaining pairs are all supposed to find a place in our collective schedules. For some of these things I've found modern day replacements. I've replaced "a time to plant and a time to pluck up" with "a time to return calls and a time to let it go to voicemail." "A time to kill and a time to heal" has been replaced with my Wii fitness routine (I think I'm killing fat cells and then healing from the soreness).
I've got "the time to laugh" covered every time I watch the video of my family trying the Hula Hoop game from the Wii, but I don't know the last time I allowed myself to truly mourn. It's not that I haven't had things to mourn. I have had my share, but right in the middle of mourning, I remember all of the things I have to do and I stop.
Others items in the passage seem obscure to me. They appear to be lost or inverted in our collective lives. "The time to break down, and a time to build up" gets pushed to the side, because who can afford to do this work with children, youth and young adults?
"The time to weep, and a time to laugh," coupled with "the time to mourn and the time to dance," seems to happen on the fringes of the communities I visit, but not with the same groups of people. One group continues to weep and mourn while another group seems to laugh and dance, sometimes all the way to the bank.
"The time to throw away stones, and the time to gather stones together" has become all too one-sided with us throwing away more and more. "The time to embrace, and the time to refrain from embracing" has been inverted: we seem to embrace the things that separate us, and refrain from embracing what can heal us.
The New Year is just a few days away and as I begin to prepare for its arrival, I want to remember these last few couplets and find time for them in my life. I want to make room in my life to "seek" those things that will make our conference and our churches stronger, and "lose" those things that inhibit our covenant. I pledge to find the time to "keep" all of the shared wisdom and to "throw away" the thinking that begins with me or mine. I will make time to "tear" into new projects at Silver Lake and to "sew" together new ministries that unite the best of our work.
I will find the time to "keep silent" while young adults and youth are sharing their vision of a new church and to "speak" up when other adults may try to ignore their words. I will take more time to "love" this glorious planet that God has given us, and take time to "hate" (yes, hate) my own actions that destroy it, so that I may have the will to stop them.
I will actively engage in "war" against any thinking that says someone does not deserve adequate care, and I will wage "peace" in any space where I find violence.
Still-Speaking God, may we find time this year for every matter under heaven, and wisdom to choose our actions to suit the time. Amen.
Please remember:
the Rev. Donald H. Ketcham, pastor emeritus of the West Avon Congregational Church UCC, as he recovers from surgery on December 24;
the Rev. Nancy A. Milton, retired minister in this conference, as she prepares for back surgery in the new year;
with thanksgiving: the birth on December 17 of Connor Thomas Mabe, son of the Rev. Zack Mabe, pastor of the Terryville Congregational Church UCC, and his wife Melissa;
the Rev. Dr. Jennifer S. Cook, pastor of the Congregational Church of Thompson UCC, who is restricted in her mobility while recovering from a broken ankle;
the Rev. Dr. Carroll Kann, former Connecticut Conference Minister, and his wife, Joyce, who are seriously ill;
our Conference Minister the Rev. Dr. Davida Foy Crabtree and her spouse, David, as he undergoes chemotherapy and radiation treatment for stomach cancer, and their daughter Elizabeth, who suffered a stroke on December 12 and is hospitalized;
the Rev. Nancy Allen, associate minister of Immanuel Congregational Church UCC in Hartford, as she undergoes cancer treatment;
the Rev. M. J. Hinchliff, pastor of First Church of Christ, Congregational, UCC of East Haddam, who is being treated for breast cancer;
those traveling to celebrate the holiday this week;
our ecumenical partners in Honduras, amidst continuing political uncertainty;
the Conference's partners working for peace in Colombia amidst violence;
the leaders of this nation, that they may meet the challenges of the day with insight, wisdom, and compassion;
those suffering due to the ongoing financial woes of the nation, be they struggling to meet an unaffordable mortgage, confronting the loss of a job, or working to find just resolutions to the crisis; and
those serving or living in war or conflict zones around the world, or where terrorists have struck, particularly in Russia, Pakistan, Iraq, Afghanistan, Colombia, and the Sudan.
To be added to the prayer list, please send an email to webmaster@ctucc.org.
Kent
First Cong'l Church
P The Rev. Melinda M. Keck
Killingworth
Cong'l Ch in Killingworth
P Ms. Martha Bays
Lebanon
First Cong'l Church
P The Rev. Sharon S. Ledbetter
Ledyard
First Cong'l Ch of Ledyard UCC
IN The Rev. Michael J. Ader
Lisbon
Newent Cong'l Church
SU Mr. John Carboni
To read previous editions of the Spirit Calendar, visit:
http://www.ctucc.org/fido/spiritcalendar/
To learn more about or subscribe to the Spirit Calendar, visit:
http://www.ctucc.org/fido/
The Spirit Calendar: December 28, 2009 by Rev. Da Vita D. McCallister, Associate Conference Minister for Youth and Young Adult Ministries
