Seasons

Many of us live in areas where there are 4 seasons in our year. We enjoy the sun and warmth of summer, and the beauty of autumn despite the loss and the change. We enjoy the new fun winter activities while bundling up for the cold and unpredictable storms. We celebrate the growth and new life of spring which contrasts the dark winter like yin and yang. I believe our lives experience similar seasons, though not necessarily in that order and not always one season at a time.

Winter of life is often associated with old age. I see winter as a season of loss and grief. Winter follows the phone call that marks a new before and after. Winter is when hope is hiding in the dark corners and the shadows of the barren trees. Winter is when the color is monochromatic and sad. Most of nature is a shade of brown. Winter is dangerous. The storms can take your home. The harsh weather can push your car off the road. It is often safer to stay indoors. Being safe in winter often means isolation. We don’t socialize the same. We decline parties because the roads are too dangerous. We are forced to stay in because the cold weather has made us ill.

Winter is a time when we fight for hope. For me (in the northern hemisphere), the Christmas season with its lights, family, and reminder of our blessings brings me hope and joy. The surprise visit of new fallen snow, blanketing the brown with sparkling white fills my spirit. I am a child again, ready to make snow angels, build snowmen, and sled down the steepest hill I can find. Amidst the harshness of winter, there are snippets of hope and joy. In our lives, if we are paying attention, we can find those same snippets when our lives are deep in the middle of their own winters. My favorite reminder of hope and resilience comes every winter when I venture outside to see a stubborn pansy blooming through the blanket of snow.

In nature, spring follows winter. I have yet to meet a person who doesn’t at least appreciate spring. We celebrate the growth of dormant plants, we awe at the birth of babies of all species. We are thrilled with the rapid change. The trees that resembled sticks in the ground one day are adorned with greenery the next. Birds are chatty and persistently building nests and looking for mates. Life itself is in constant activity; waking from the quiet winter. While the beauty and color of spring washes over us, the ground can become a muddy mess. We welcome the rain. It fuels the growth. It isn’t all “happily ever after.” In order to experience the resilience and hope of spring, we must have rain. We must have sustenance to feed the earth, to cleanse, and fill the dry and barren spaces.

Spring is a time of joy and celebration. Spring is the moment when the new opportunity in life arises. The dream has come to fruition. The goal has been met. The call came granting you the job, you are moving forward in the relationship, you finished the work. The feeling of success and achievement is why graduations and weddings often occur in spring. It is the season for celebrating. Spring is when hope is abundant and freely falls from trees. Even though spring is hopeful, it can still come with challenges. They are blessed challenges, but still muddy and somewhat disruptive. The new job comes with uncertainty. The new relationship comes with nerves. The graduation comes with apprehension of what is next. I believe my family is entering a spring season in our lives. There will be many changes. There will be times of celebrating mixed with fear and doubt. It will be beautiful and overwhelming. It will be an incredible spring of hope.

Summer is the season most people anticipate the most. Students count down the days. Families consider their vacations and camping trips. It is the only season warm enough to play in the water. Summer is full of fun activities. For many, summer is predictable, requirements slow down, but exciting excursions multiply. Summers are consistent. They are a perfect time for recovery. As a teacher, I use my summers to fully recover and recharge before another school year. I take every opportunity to care for myself. I say, “yes” anytime I receive an invite for water or friends. Summers are full of light.

Summers are that part of our lives when we are moving forward without much worry. Our calendars are full, but we are excited about the schedule. The surprises bring us joy. The people we see fill our cups. Summer is a season where we can freely choose to rest and recover and everyone expects it of us.

Autumn is the black lab amidst the pile of yellow lab puppies. Its colors are unique. It is a time of drastic change, hibernation, and apparent death, yet it is absolutely beautiful. The trees’ leaves lose their green and take on yellow, orange, red, brown and pink. Some trees resemble an illustration of fire. Their leaves create an hombre of colors. Autumn is when the plants and animals prepare for the harsh winter. They hold onto their nutrients, they store food, they prepare warm homes. They are busy.

The people are busy also. They have their own land and homes to prepare. Some are collecting the harvest from the fruitful summer. The people prepare gatherings to celebrate the differing seasons. The weather turns cooler and the people gather together. The change is exponential, yet beautiful and necessary to prepare for the winter.

Autumn, for teachers and students, is a new beginning. Autumn athletes have full schedules of games and practices. The autumn of life is the season where your schedule is busy with tasks and appointments. There isn’t much time for the extra people in your life. You have business to take care of. You have to prepare. For me, autumn often comes after the winter, rather than before. The phone call of winter announces death and change. Autumn is the loving people who come alongside you. They are the vibrant color of the leaves amidst death. They are the source of sustenance in this time of loss. Autumn is the season you feel barren, but you cannot help but see the blessings and beauty around you.

Life is full of all seasons. The seasons don’t necessarily go in a particular order. Some can happen simultaneously. We need seasons. We need times of predictability and change. We need to know that this difficult winter will not last. The hope of an end to a season is why Narnia was in such a tragic place at the beginning of the story. It was forever winter, but never Christmas. There was no end. There was no hope of spring.

Whichever season you are in right now, know it is only a season. It will pass and you will enter another season. Find the beauty, find the hope, hold onto the blessings that will sustain you until this season ends. It will end. Even the good ones end. The summers cannot go on forever. Practice enjoying the gifts in front of you. Unlike the calendar seasons, we do not know when the seasons of our lives will change.