The days before I read this, I was wondering why it is that I start to feel stagnant after I’ve been standing in one place for more than a few months.  I can’t mechanically fall into the same routine for as long as I intend to before I become anxious and frustrated by where I’m at.  As I once wrote in a song “what I want is always on the next page”.  As I read this section of Lewis’ book, I started thinking about how much the Lord must have created the seasons for people, not independently from people… as if to say maybe we’re supposed to keep turning over a new leaf, as we feel the weight of a new page.

Along with the world He created around us, we go through seasons too… at least we’re supposed to.  The Biblical Holidays (Feasts) which God told His people to keep forever all follow them and have spiritual significance that directly relates to the changing seasons.  This makes me feel foolish for not paying better attention to them and making their implications coded into changes I plan throughout my seasons years.  I need this rhythm to function properly.  If I don’t cooperate with the cycles of the natural world He placed me in, of course I’ll feel ‘off’.  I won’t be following with His perfect schedule, which He created to support our nature.

I’m making an effort to see my life as a series of cycles that correspond with the seasons.  From what I understand, the way He designed man in regards to the seasons is that there is a time to sow seed, a time to water, a time to harvest and a time to rest.  If we follow that rhythm of the four seasons, I think we’ll have constant peace in what we’re doing, even though each season has its pleasures and pains.  Suddenly there are more meaningful purposes than pleasure and pain to be driven by.

Conceptualizing the Practical Rhythm of Seasons

I probably need to spend more time studying and listening to God before I can be at peace with any kind of life-formula for planed seasonal change.  This is something I don’t feel like doing in the middle of a blog post.  For now, I’ll write down the whispers I’m sensing and perhaps come back and correct them later.

Winter:
Though in some ways it is the last season in the cycle, it is also the first in other ways.  Since it is currently winter, I figure it’d be good to start here… so I’m not waiting for something to start that is already in motion. When winter comes, the harvest is over and there isn’t much the farmer in me can do to the field of my life.  It’s time for a break, however, it’s only a physical break.  I feel like the winter is the most intentional time to plan and focus on relationships.  Those are the two priorities this season.  It’s funny how this kinda worked itself out culturally.  We already tend to focus on family (“Xmas times”) and plan for what’s next (New Years resolutions) during the winter season.  The difference between what’s already in place and what I’m exploring now is that one, it’s important to really focus on those we love, not an un-biblical holiday, and two, to really focus on planning for the next year of seasons, opposed to just making some resolutions without much of a strategy to see them through.  We need more than some goals… we need “seeds”.  I think the very practical question that we need to ask and specifically plan is “what can I/we start doing in the spring that will give us a harvest to provide for this next year”.  Then the goal is to acquire the seeds before this season is done.  Submit to the Lord and receive what He gives… the desires of your heart.

Spring:
It’s time to get to work!  After that nice physical break, paired with inspiration, direction and quality time together, we can feel the excitement and energy building in our bones!  Winter should have been spent acquiring seed.  We have a plan for how to plant it and all the tools and other supplies to get it done.  As the world is coming to life, so are our “farms”.  By the time our initial passion starts to wane, the things we are working on finally begin to sprout!  The hardest part is making sure the seed finds good soil and receives what it needs to take root.  Is this seed (project, etc.) set in an environment that will nourish it?  Is an outside life-form (project, hobby, commitment, distraction) trying to devour it?  Is it receiving the proper amount of water and sun (not too little effort and inspiration, not too much effort and inspiration)?

Summer:
It’s a crucial time for the not-yet-ripe project.  It’s there, everyone can see it, but it hasn’t produced anything useful yet.  It’s just been a big commitment and we’re still trying to live off of last year’s harvest.  There may be a temptation to grow frustrated and burn the whole field down.  Weeds start to grow.  Insects and animals come in to destroy what we’ve been working so hard to grow.  The hot days are long and take a toll on a farmer doing everything possible just to endure this vital season.  We have to just keep watering, keep pruning, keep weeding, keep spraying…  if we keep our mind on what we’re doing and press on through the season, it’s over before we know it…

Fall:
Harvest is here!  The type of work has drastically changed.  As God has blessed us with the resources, tools, nutrients and ability to work hard these past two seasons, we’re now at the easy work.  Plump fruit waits for us to gather in and take to sell.  Our debts can be paid off, our silos filled again and our worn out clothes be stitched or replaced.  After months of networking in a way that provides people with the fruit we’ve been growing, we take in as much as we can to keep us going for the next year.  As the season ends, we retreat into the Winter season, continuing a new round of the cycle…