[Seasons: Summer XVII]
Where I grew up it happened in May; where I live now, it occurs in July or August: the fields turn brown, the risk of fires increases, and signs of death emerge.
Summer is full of life and growth, but it’s a season that is not without death.
This is true for the summers in our life, too. It’s not that death disappears for months, it’s that it hides behind the showy growth and abundant life. We wake up one morning, it seems, and the fields are on fire!
I’m suspicious of the person that says everything is well—business is good, the family is healthy, and life is grand. Summer is all around, it seems, but I know that even in times of excessive green, there are subtle signs of late summer around the edges of the fields and in drying creek beds. They just don’t see it yet (or aren’t willing to admit it).
How do we tend to the hidden “dryness" in our lives?
Not by overemphasizing summer growth!
Not by irrigating and extending the season!
