“There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heavens”.
From the Book of Ecclesiastes 3:1
I wanted to share this short reflection and video that I made of the joy I felt on my bike ride last Sunday morning after Mass. It was 27 degrees at the start but I am always amazed at how healing a long bike ride can be for yours truly. Some of my best thinking surfaces on these long rides but on this journey I couldn’t help but think of how grateful I am for this one year Spiritual Program that I am taking with the Jesuits that began last May. It’s been one of the most satisfying experiences of my life and will help me better serve my clients who have a spiritual dimension to their lives. I’ve always been fascinated about how scripture can be a guidepost for how to live your life and I believe the Program is helping me center on how to live my best life in this final chapter of my life.
Like each of you, I have so many playlists I listen to but as I was pumping my legs through the cold wind that blanketed my way up to Monmouth Beach, one song in particular hit me and always does — that great 1960s classic called Turn! Turn! Turn!. The lyrics written by the late Pete Seeger of Peter, Paul, and Mary fame is taken right from the Book of Ecclesiastes, and that powerful refrain “There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heavens”. For me, this Advent season is a time to savor all of the graces God has given me in this life — that special gift that is having each of you and my four grandchildren in my life. I hope you remember that whatever season you are in God can help you work through it, no matter what the challenge may be. Sometimes on my retreats, I look back and remember those difficult moments in my life and wondered how would I would ever get through it — Dennis’s untimely passing; getting restructured unexpectedly from the job I loved on Wall Street; losing both my parents; and some of the internal conflicts that we and many families have to navigate. But I realize now that God always meets you where you are without questions or judgement — he just loves us and promises to walk with us.
As we head into the Holiday Season and the promise of another new year, I hope each of us can take comfort in that God is always there to help you through whatever our internal struggles may be at this moment. Sending you a lot of love and I hope you enjoy this video of my morning bike ride and the joy that I am feeling in this season of Advent, Dad
