For Everything there is a Season
A favorite passage of scripture is Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
3 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.
June is a month of signposts for me, and Ecclesiastes always comes to mind. My mom and I celebrate our birthdays in June and “the hill” is getting closer and closer. The programmatic year at church ends and weekly evening rehearsals are replaced with dinners at home with my family. Spring planting is over and June brings the best flowers and most verdant time for my gardens. It is a time to reflect on the successes and failures of the past year.
My oldest daughter graduated from West Pine Middle School on Wednesday. It seems like only yesterday that she was downstairs with Miss Karen at Mother’s Morning Out, formerly housed in the Parish House, while I was busy at work in my office a floor above. I can still hear Miss Karen singing, “Clean up, clean up, everybody everywhere, clean up, clean up, everybody do your share.”
For everything there is a season.
Last Saturday I danced with my daughter Ella as we celebrated the marriage of my friends Peter and Rebecca. This Saturday we mourn the loss of Fr. Randy, with whom I shared the offering of many beautiful liturgies. His leadership at Choral Evensong, as well as his chanting of the Exsultet at the Easter Vigil, were moments that fall into the category of “the beauty of holiness.”
My colleague at The Village Chapel, Stephen Gourley, is on sabbatical this summer. The church has provided for many opportunities for him this summer and I’m excited for him to share stories of his experiences when he returns. My sabbatical in 2024 was a season of healing.
For everything there is a season.
This week I’ve been surveying projects. The music libraries at the church require a good deal of organizational attention. My office, bedroom, garage, and closet look like the surrounds of a hoarder. The stacks of treasures are evidence of sixteen years of living in one place. I figure I need three months just to get through everything so I can throw away the stones that need to be tossed aside and gather up the ones that I need to (re)discover.
On June 3rd Amanda and I celebrated 20 years of marriage. I grilled chicken and we showed our children videos taken from our rehearsal dinner, ceremony, and reception. It was amazing to look back at a life that now seems so distant. When we wed, Amanda was a music therapist with Neurological Music Therapy Services of Arizona. I was working on a doctorate at Arizona State University, taught music appreciation as a faculty associate, and had a lucrative residential real estate business. I served as the part-time music associate at Central United Methodist Church in Phoenix, which had a stellar choral program. The choir would tour every two years and during my time at Central we toured Germany, the Czech Republic, and Spain.
We were married at Central United Methodist Church. The choir sang ten choral anthems. My organ professor Dr. Kimberly Marshall was the organist. Our friend Sarah Miller played violin. Amanda was a member at Christ Church Lutheran (Missouri Synod) in Phoenix, so while the wedding took place in a Methodist Church, we were married by Amanda’s pastor, Rev. Arnie Frank. Our friend Don Lowmiller owned a vintage Rolls-Royce. He drove chauffeured us from the church to our reception at the Arizona Biltmore. It was a fairy tale wedding.
The season of life we lived in Arizona ended when we came to North Carolina. Our season here has been filled with children, musical and professional opportunities, friendships, adventures, and a life rich with blessings.
I thought it might be fun for our friends and loved ones here in this season of our life to meet the characters and places that were so much a part of our season in Arizona. If you want to take a peek into those times, here are three links to give you a glimpse:
Wedding Rehearsal Video
https://youtu.be/v9XVyqv4uK8?si=zT4wo9ESdJExx-LT
Ceremony Video
https://youtu.be/ojyFPIP7ERo?si=kuNcvygj-d6EkjFA
Wedding Reception Video
https://youtu.be/ObMPmW35wJM?si=hMws8ufaiyq0upjJ
Indeed, for everything there is a season.