Monday, January 21, 2008

Turn Turn Turn

Now, that I have a granddaughter. I have been thinking of an Old Testament wisdom about "life". Solomon wrote Ecclesiastes of what he saw. Ecclesiastes 7:14 When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, a man cannot discover anything about his future.

This is my thoughts from reading Ecclesiastes
I arrived naked from the womb of my mother; I will leave in the same condition--with nothing. There's a right time and way for everything. It's true that no one knows what's going to happen, or when. Life leads to death that life, while it lasts, will soon be over. There's an opportune time to do things, a right time for everything on the earth. A right time for birth and another for death. A right time to plant and another to reap. A right time to get sick and another to heal. A right time to cry and another to laugh, A right time to lament and another to cheer. A right time to make love and another to abstain. A right time to embrace and another to part, A right time to search and another to count your losses. A right time to hold on and another to let go. A right time to rip out and another to mend. A right time to shut up and another to speak up. A right time to love and another to hate.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
A Time for Everything
1 There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:
2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,

3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,

4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,

5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,

7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be 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.
Now... I want to play a song sang by the Byrds that probably most of you know (if you are over 40 years old). A song that was played back in the mid 1960s that the song/words were adapted from Book of Ecclesiastes. "Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There Is a Season)", often abbreviated to "Turn! Turn! Turn!", is a song written and composed by Pete Seeger in the 1950s. Seeger waited until 1962 to record it, releasing the song on his album The Bitter and The Sweet.

To everything (turn, turn, turn)
There is a season (turn, turn, turn)
And a time for every purpose, under heaven

A time to be born, a time to die
A time to plant, a time to reap
A time to kill, a time to heal
A time to laugh, a time to weep

To everything (turn, turn, turn)
There is a season (turn, turn, turn)
And a time for every purpose, under heaven

A time to build up,a time to break down
A time to dance, a time to mourn
A time to cast away stones, a time to gather stones together

To everything (turn, turn, turn)
There is a season (turn, turn, turn)
And a time for every purpose, under heaven

A time of love, a time of hate
A time of war, a time of peace
A time you may embrace, a time to refrain from embracing

To everything (turn, turn, turn)
There is a season (turn, turn, turn)
And a time for every purpose, under heaven

A time to gain, a time to lose
A time to rend, a time to sew
A time to love, a time to hate
A time for peace, I swear its not too late

3 comments:

Lisa Emrich said...

Jim, this is a great example of biblical teaching as known through popular literature (or pop music for the time.)

Thank you for reminding me of this. And congratulations on the beautiful granddaughter.

CS said...

I absolutely love that song - it's thematic for me. But I've always wondered about the idea that there is ever a proper time for war or hate.

Karen Putz said...

I had never heard that song before-- thanks for sharing!