Perhaps many of us are familiar with the first verses of the third chapter of the Book of Ecclesiastes from the Hebrew Bible.
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven—a time to be born, a time to die; a time to plant, a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, a time to heal; a time to break down, a time to build up; a time to weep, a time to laugh; a time to mourn, a time to dance; a time to throw away stones, a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, a time to lose; a time to keep, a time to throw away; a time to tear, a time to sew; a time to keep silence, a time to speak; a time to love, a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.
—Ecclesiastes 3:1 – 8 [NRSV]
There is a song I love that speaks of the surety of change. The song lyrics offer these words for our reflection:
“Everything Must Change”[i]
Everything must change.
Nothing stays the same.
Everyone must change.
No one stays the same.
The young become the old,
And mysteries do unfold
‘Cause that’s the way of time.
Nothing and no one goes unchanged.
Winter turns to spring.
A wounded heart will heal,
But never much too soon.
Yes, everything must change.
The young become the old,
And mysteries do unfold
‘Cause that’s the way of time.
Nothing and no one goes unchanged.
There are not many things
In life you can be sure of
Except rain comes from the clouds,
Sun lights up the sky,
And hummingbirds do fly.
Written by: BENARD IGHNER
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Yes, everything must change. Immediately before the orders to “shelter in place” were issued, Pastor Jennifer and I were planning how I would come on the staff as “Theomusicologist – in – Residence” at Beloved Community Church. As you were preparing to celebrate the major milestone of Beloved’s 20th Anniversary, none of us would have imagined observing this major milestone on the Zoom platform in such understated ways. I would not hesitate to say that in all of our dialogue and planning, none of us imagined that we would be where we are today in light of the pandemic that was just around the corner and would have us sheltering at home.
I would even venture to say that none, or very few, of us imagined that we would concurrently experience a wave of protest during the pandemic. Or as someone said recently, COVID – 19 and “COVID – 1619”, referring to the twin pandemics of the coronavirus and racism. Everything changes, in ways we anticipate and in ways we cannot anticipate. Change is a sure thing! And now it seems like we will be in this “newness” for some time to come.
As the needs of our community are increasing, Beloved’s presence in both the virtual community and in the physical community remains vital. Fortunately for Beloved as a whole, and for us in our respective homes or family units, with change comes POSSIBILITY. But that possibility is only realized if we are able to ADAPT well in seasons of change. There are a couple of verses that follow the more familiar portion of Ecclesiastes 3 that give me hope in seasons of change:
11 [God] has made everything suitable for its time; moreover [God] has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. … 14 I know that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it ….
—Ecclesiastes 3:11, 14 [NRSV]
I am hopeful because I trust that God has made everything suitable—or as one version says, BEAUTIFUL—for its time [v. 11a]. Just as the seasons change, the needs of response change and the provision of God changes for the season we face. I trust God to help us assess our resources—of all varieties—and to bring our best to the task of reshaping our work. And I believe it will be a beautiful work as we look back on this season of change.
I am hopeful because I trust that the seeds of our flourishing are present in how we adapt to the changing season we are facing [v. 11b]. God has not left us resourceless. We have within us “a sense of past and future.” There are lessons we have learned in past times of crisis and change that will inform our work and help us to flourish today. That requires us to come together by Zoom or by phone or by email, etc., so we find those seeds and carefully tend to them. I can already see us finding and tending those seeds in the way we have cultivated holy spaces of worship, study, and gathering even with the current limitations. I can see us finding and tending those seeds in the continuation of the Brown Bag Ministry, caring for those families who are hungry.
I am hopeful because I trust that God is doing something in this season of change, in this season when pandemic meets protest [v. 14].
GOD is doing something.
God IS doing something.
God is DOING something.
God is going SOMETHING!
And what God does will endure. As we have watched and engaged in the protests and direct actions that came to a head following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, we see that God is doing something. People have coalesced to say that we have had enough. As a result of the escalated protests in Birmingham leading to the removal of Confederate statues in Linn Park, we have seen statues honoring white supremacy come down across the United States and other places around the world. Even locally, we have seen continued pressure on the powers that be in Hoover in protest of harsh policing practices and of the devaluing of Black lives. All of this has happened amid the COVID-19 pandemic. God is doing something, and we have the opportunity to be an ongoing part of what God is doing.
Change is typically not an easy thing for us, but change is a must if we want to stay in step with how the Spirit of God is moving in the moment and with the needs of the community of which we are part. And so, as we face this season of change for people across the world, in the Birmingham community, and in our congregational life, our ability to adapt well is key. Just as we hear affirmed in the United Church of Christ (UCC), “God is still speaking.”[ii] In this season of change, may we continue to listen to God speaking to us through scripture, through our shared experience, and through our commitment to be God’s witness in the world.[iii] In so doing, we will continue to “joyfully share with one another hope for the living, comfort for the dying, dignity for those in struggle, and freedom to ask and to seek and to grow more fully
Into the persons we were created to be.”[iv]
[i] https://www.lyrics.com/lyric/30322911/George+Benson/Everything+Must+Change
[ii] http://www.belovedcommunitychurch.org/what-we-believe/
[iii] http://www.belovedcommunitychurch.org/participation-membership/
