Tis the Season

I have always thought that the seasons began at the beginning...:)  with Spring being first and Winter being last and in my mind I matched up the seasons of life in that way...Spring being birth and childhood and Winter being old age and death....but of late I have been seeing it differently....Perhaps this is not what the Maker had in mind at all...perhaps Winter is the first season....it seems to me, looking backwards, that this may be the case.   Just think of it....Winter is a quiet season...all the work of nature is mostly being done in a quiet way...underground without a lot to show....wildlife and humans are hunkered down often buried by a blanket of snow...plant life is hidden, resting...could this not be when we are children..being formed in our mothers wombs, being born and proceeding to become....eating and learning and practicing skills...hidden and growing within our own family units and being fed and shaped into what will be...so that when Springtime comes...we blossom forth...reaching out into the world.. to begin expressing what has been nurtured with in...we laugh and breathe and everything is exciting and new...we scamper to and fro gathering, experiencing, absorbing....still growing and becoming, still being fertilized and pruned and taught so that in Summer we can bear fruit...the fruit of a profession, a home, a family of our own, the time when our own specific gifts and contributions to society can come forth....Summer has a steady rhythm and is truly the heart of the year.... in the South it is the longest season...certainly it is the most fruitful and gratifying.
And then your responsibilities to the future begin to slow a bit and before you know it Autumn is upon you...And it is Glorious!  All your senses are assaulted by crispness and color and startling beauty...hard work and years of contribution come to fruition ... it is the time of full harvest, a time to survey all you have built and earned...all that God has been faithful to give ....a time to tie up loose ends, rest and reflect a bit and enjoy the fruits of a lifetime of preparation and labor.  Truly a glorious season of life...and for all the Seasons may He say "Well done, my good and faithful servant".