SUMMER By Andrea Marino

Ah, Summertime! We look forward to this sun-filled season all year long. Sweet sounding songbirds, filling the ear. Our eyes feast upon the sight of assorted flowers and greenery. And with more daylight hours to enjoy outside adventures or simply relax in, don’t we all wish Summer would never end? Fall can be lovely; still the season holds the reminder of things passing away and Winter coming. Such a stark contrast to Summer. Even though my area was spared of snow and the weather was milder than usual this year, I refer to Winter as ‘the season of my discontent’.

The book of Ecclesiastes tells us, ‘there is a season for everything, a time for every activity under heaven.’ Chapter 3 provides another distinction within reality, namely the good times of life and the not-so-good times. I tend to concentrate on the perfect and the ideal, sometimes to my own detriment, always with a sense of something more and something better to our existence on planet earth. I yearned for it as far back as I could remember. Though the perfect does not exist in the current world, corrupted by evil since the fall in the Garden of Eden, there is good news. God has placed eternity into the hearts of every single person. (Ecclesiastes 3:11) Jesus can satisfy our deepest longings for the perfect. His Kingdom is ‘in our midst’ and can be the reality. Struggles, hardships, and seasons far from Summer-like are the times to discover God. How wonderful this encounter is while we are in the world.

Jesus tells us to shift the focus off of what our natural eyes can see, and to focus on what we cannot see; for the things naturally seen are temporary, while the unseen riches of His Kingdom are eternal. The Lord’s truths are wisdom, providing strength in those inevitable seasons of weariness and dreariness. Faith is how Christians best live. Faith is the proof of what we cannot see and yet are hoping for and believing to happen. (Hebrews 11:1) Jesus invites us on a journey with Him into a mystery that is walked by faith. I don’t know how anyone can live without Jesus. He is that breath of fresh summer air amid the stench of an evil world. He is that extended hand offering shelter in the storm. His love is a balm to any aching soul, and He alone transforms lives. In Jesus is abundant living now and for all eternity.

I still look forward to Summer. I still get weepy at this season’s end. But any sadness does not overwhelm or keep me down. I know, in the presence of God is fullness of joy and I rest in the truth that one day I will live with Him in a perfect place, one He has been preparing for over 2000 years.

If Summer is likened to the experience of a wonderful childhood, then all is well in the beginning of our days. But as time goes on and we discover former dreams, passing away in the Fall, time comes to stand firm through those cold winter nights. For sure as faith gives rise to hope, the promise of life is unfolding, ready to Spring forth anew.