A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever.. (Ecclesiastes 1:4 nrsv)

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven. (Ecclesiastes 3:1)

I write this reflection while simultaneously watching the 4x100 Olympic track relays and assisting both Olivia and Ethan as they pack up to go off to college. Olivia will be a sophomore at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Ethan begins his freshman year at Davidson College about an hour southward from his sister.

Everyone keeps reminding me about the ambivalent feelings to expect from "an empty nest." Frankly, as I watch Olympic racers pass the baton, I'm feeling the baton pass between generations within my own household! I know in my mind that this is the season for the shift of generations to occur. I am grateful to God for seeing both children safely to this point in their journey. I try to embrace the flash forwards of where my young adult offspring will be in several years. I feel a little pain as I flashback to precious moments in time that have passed. I wonder about how I will discern where God will lead me into new pathways in my calling as spouse, parent, and pastor.

God has put a sense of past and future into our minds. That sense of reflection makes me more humbly human. That sense of the swoop of time stirs me with both grief and hope.

Almighty God, you are the Lord of all seasons and our Lord in and through all seasons. Thank you for being our companion through all transitions in life. Amen

Contributed by Pastor Dan
Monday August 27, 2012
Liturgical Year B: Week 40
Liturgical Color: Green
Sunday Gospel reading:
Lectionary 21 (Proper 16)
Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost