For everything there is a season, a time for every
matter under heaven: a time to be born,
and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a
time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a
time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to
embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to
lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to tear, and a time to
sew; a time to keep silence, 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 (ESV)
In the movie “The Queen,” Her Royal Majesty, Queen
Elizabeth II, is played by Helen Mirren.
The royal family is in Scotland at Balmoral Castle during the
summer. When they learned of Princess
Diana’s death, the Queen was greatly troubled.
While the men were out deer hunting, the queen wanted to be by herself
so she drove the old Land Rover freely through the lanes and muddy roads covering
some of the almost 50,000 acres of the estate in the Scottish Highlands. While she’s crossing a small river in the SUV
it stalls and can’t be started. It is a
crisp, cold, crystal sunshiny day. She
opens the door, gets out of the vehicle, stepping into the stream in her
Wellingtons, moves to dry land, and makes a cell phone call to give her
location. Then, she turns around to see
the biggest stag she’s ever seen in her life.
He proudly displays his huge rack and looks at the queen, neither of
them moving. She hears gun shots, far in
the distance, and shoos the giant red deer away, looking away, then back and
he’s gone. Later, she is horrified to
learn that the deer has been killed on a neighboring estate. She asks to see the stag and is upset at its
loss.
In the same way, I came almost face to face with a
huge buck showing a large rack, 8-10 points. As the cold came to Alabama one
sunny Sunday, yet cool, afternoon, I was on the back roads of Walker county
driving by some mountainous coal strip mines.
I slowed down looking up the unpaved man-made road to the top of the
mountain, whereupon I spotted him standing strikingly tall, half-way up to the
highest point, in the wide-open, not moving an inch. We actually saw each other at the same
time. Then, like a flash, he was gone. Farewell, oh farewell, God’s beautiful
creature!
It’s so hard to say goodbye sometimes whether it’s to
a loved one, the community where we grew up and house we were raised in, the
church of our youth, sometimes our friends, family, a job, children growing up
and moving away, our life and health where we have to make changes, even
watching our church change.
You may ask why?
There is a purpose (we’ll see it one day). When will it happen? Not sure (trust and hope). Where will we go? God will lead us. How will we be able to do what we need to do?
He will strengthen and undergird us. I
have a dear friend who says, “Everything is a process.” I don’t have the answers, yet I do know
this…God will provide and promises to never leave us!
Prayer: Sit by
me, Beauty. Sit by me, Pain. Teach me Your wisdom. Give me a hearing heart. Amen.
Your friend,
Mark
David Jackson
