To everything, turn, turn, turn. . .

“To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, a time to reap that which 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 cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, 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 of war, and a time of peace.” - Book of Ecclesiastes

The above song, which was made famous by the group The Byrds, was the first song I learned when joining the choir back in 6th grade.  Back then it was about learning the lyrics, understanding the music and the tempo and making sure to sing on time.  As we grow older, the true meaning of the song comes to our understanding.  It is no wonder that this song is a classic.  This is my interpretation of the song.  The first line summarizes the way life flows with its ups and down.  There is death and re-birth; there is the planting of new seeds and the manifestation of those seeds into beautiful things.  There is loss, healing, and the releasing of parts of ourselves that no longer serve us and the build-up or development of aspects of ourselves that had been previously hidden.  There are tears, laughter, sadness and joy.  There is time to release more parts of ourselves that are un-needed and the bringing to the surface of pieces of our internal structure that had been hidden from the light.  There is the love of others and the time for us to learn to love ourselves.  There is the time to receive and the time to give.  There is the time to make memories and the time to release those memories that no longer serve us.  There is a time to allow ourselves to breakdown and a time to allow ourselves to mend and heal.  There is a time to maintain the power of silence and yet a time to speak our truth.  There is time that we hate, but it is through the hate that we find love.  There is a time of war (real war and then the internal struggles with our ego) and then the beauty and joy we find in peace and in the light.