30th July 2025

There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace. (Ecclesiastes 3:1–8)

This is a well-known and popular old testament passage, the writer of Ecclesiastes points to the cyclical nature of our lives and creates some striking poetry. In our secular and church lives we still rely on the seasons of nature to give a rhythm to the year. (How will this change as our climate changes and alters the traditional four seasons in this part of the world? A subject for another day, I think.)

As I write, we are experiencing a hot, dry summer and most organised activities at Tyndale are taking a break. “A time to mend” perhaps. A time to rest and build. Ready for the work that is to come in the autumn.

May God give us the wisdom to pace ourselves and be ready for the times of planting, building, healing, weeping and laughter that are to come.

Nick Parsons