“To everything there is a season.”
Familiar words, a passage from the Old Testament that you’ll hear in a homily, often in a eulogy, sometimes in politicians’ rhetoric.
There it was in the daily newspaper Sept. 23, on that page dedicated to deep, thoughtful, insightful perspectives on our lives and times. No, it wasn’t the editorial page, not even Dave Shapiro’s pithy commentary.
The quote from the book of Ecclesiastes was on the comics page, in “Mutts” by Patrick McDonnell. It was one of a series of comic strips using quotes from famous authors extolling the glory of trees changing color as the summer season changes to autumn.
So, thanks to that artist, the song “Turn, Turn, Turn” has become my fall theme song. The tune is by Pete Seeger, but the lyrics are lifted verbatim from Ecclesiastes, written by King Solomon centuries before Jesus was born. Powerful stuff, it can help a person recognize that change is part of the rhythm of life and that grief and grim times won’t last forever.
It’s not “Whistle a Happy Tune” echoing in my head. There’s a phrase to match every chapter in our lives, every film clip of world events, harsh and horrible as well as happy: “A time to kill and a time to heal; a time to get and a time to lose; a time to love and a time to hate; a time of war and a time of peace.” The only words by Seeger are the postscript after “a time of peace” — “I swear it’s not too late.” Everyone from The Byrds to Bruce Springsteen to Dolly Parton — no kidding — recorded their version of what became an anti-war and civil rights anthem.
“A time to keep silence and a time to speak.”
The song may have stirred the crowds at events near and far held on Sept. 21. That’s the International Day of Peace, the anniversary of a United Nations 1981 resolution affirming the “right of peoples to peace.” I doubt many readers have even heard of it. The news media succeeded in ignoring the several events held on Oahu, including the all-day Queen Liliuokalani International Day of Peace on Iolani Palace grounds and another at the Pearl City Peace Garden. They drew a few dozen people involved in community causes, mediation efforts, advocates for the poor, immigrants, homeless, who persist in standing together for peaceful solutions in the face of widespread apathy.
Modern day musicians and other creative artists are speaking out about our dysfunctional society, the deep divide between the mega-rich and most of us, the entitlement mindset that the rules don’t apply to stars and celebrities. But to tell truth, I don’t want songs loaded with bleep words ringing in my head so I’m sticking to my vintage hum.
“A time to weep and a time to laugh.”
Others might have recognized that those well-intentioned people celebrating peace as a good time made a poignant counterpoint to the news that day from the Middle East and North Africa and crime-ridden American cities and sports teams, businesses and neighborhoods where people turn a blind eye to domestic violence in their midst.
“A time to break down and a time to build up.”
Another high-priced high-rise tower is announced by millionaire developers and it always seems to be on a day when the feckless government is tearing down the leaky tents of homeless people, or talking, talking, talking about future solutions.
“A time to cast away stones and a time to gather stones together.”
Oh dear, I can’t help it if stones come to mind whenever I collect another postcard diatribe from the mailbox or watch candidate commercials bashing the other guy. We’ll have our chance to gather or to scatter them very soon. Nov. 4 is election day.
“A time to keep and a time to cast away.”
That strikes a practical chord with me. It is time to clear out the closets and give a resounding yes to that pesky monthly call from Big Brothers/Big Sisters. That’s a very autumnish thing to do in a lot of cultures. I feel selfish making such a simplistic view of casting out at a time when Pahoa residents and California mountaintop dwellers and refugees leaving their homes all over the planet don’t really have the choice to keep and hold.
“A time to plant and a time to reap.”
Autumn’s beauty is a memory I share with lots of local residents who’ve had the experience. Of course I clipped that comic strip and the others waxing poetic about Mother Nature’s artistry. For my Mainland family and friends, ready or not, here they come. These are the people who have to move past the poetry of glowing colors to the reality of raking up all those leaves. It’s the finale of the season of plenty, when everything has been harvested, no more vegetable and fruit treasures in the garden.
Enduring our tropical heat, we might envy the cooling weather that turned those leaves to red and gold. But living in a clement climate, we escape the urgency of the changing season. Winter is ahead, but we didn’t need to bolster the house to be a fortress against its harshness. We don’t need to tune up the car and buy boots to survive the freeze ahead. Let’s head for the beach and deal with whatever later.
We just never need to get our act together very urgently. Indolence is epidemic, it’s the accepted pace of work and personal behavior. Contractors finish building projects and government crews pave roads and lay water lines at a rapid pace where they face the fact of freezing weather. Not so here.
“A time to be born and a time to die.”
A visiting friend, who squirmed at being surrounded by cockroaches and whitefly, told me “what this place needs is a good killing frost.” We still laugh about that, but there was wisdom in it. Hawaii’s everlasting summer and the pleasure-based culture of today aren’t necessarily a healthy thing. That’s why I don’t agree when people grieve when young people from Hawaii move to the Mainland. They enter their own season of change. If just a few find their way back with new ideas gleaned from the wider horizons, they are our hope that this place can be changed for the better.
A time to contemplate and a time to plan. Well, no, those weren’t exactly on Solomon’s list. That’s the beginning of mine.
“To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven.”