Divine Timing 7

January 20, 2025

Divine Timing Part 7

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

(Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8) 

According to this well-known passage in the Old Testament book of Ecclesiastes, there is a time for everything. In this passage, things sound “good” until we get to the words “a time to kill.” Killing is not consistent with the law of Moses and the Ten Commandments, which command, “Thou shall not kill.” Then we read that there is a time for hatred, war, uprooting, and giving up; these do not seem like activities or states of being we want to bless, promote, or honor as spiritual. Nevertheless, these “messy” things, these ugly things are in fact in all the activities under heaven.

Could this be the author’s testament to the separation of humankind from the Divine — the season we live in after the fall? This wisdom passage is a synopsis of life in the human condition — our passions and virtues. What will our choices be? Will they aid us in returning to God? 

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Spiritual practice: Read the passage and allow yourself to recall when you have done everything listed, in thought, word, or deed. 

Self-inquiry: What is the evidence that you are progressing toward reunion with your essence and God?

Dear God, 

I pray to trust in your Divine timing and that the human condition can one day be healed. 

Amen