Beachcombing with The Teacher
Just four years ago now I took part in a Quiet Day in Bude that was simply titled “Beach combing” and the Bible passage chosen was that most familiar passage from Ecclesiastes 3 “There is a right time for everything”
Many times I have found this to be true – that sometimes we humans want everything right now, but God’s timing is always perfect. During that August day I wrote this reflection, a sort of
seaside reworking of the poetic verses that the Teacher wrote so long ago.
How true it is that there is
a right time for things to happen.
A time for the sand to be warmed by the sun
And a time for it to be covered by the incoming tide.
A time for a stone to be lifted up
And a time for water to fill the stone-hole
To create a new environment.
A time to flow like the tide
And a time to accept that the tide may be turning.
A time to be young
And a time to age.
A time to cherish relationships
And a time to accept their ending.
A time for good health and strength
And a time for pain and weakness.
A time to be invincible,
And a time to be vulnerable.
A time to care for others
And a time to allow others to care for you
A time to hang on and give and give,
And a time to give up, let go and let God.
For God arranges everything
to be perfect at the right time
And to be happy in life we have to accept the rhythm
Over which we have no control,
That which is God given;
the ebb and flow of God’s life tides.
Ten days later I decided to “give up, let go and let God”, to retire from ministry, praying that the right place for us to live would come. And I am here, settled at Point in View… God’s
timing is perfect for everyone, everywhere, always.
With love and prayers,
Barbara Bennett