CICADIAN
RHYTHM
June 2004
The cicadas are coming. And with all the fanfare of a major
media event or the arrival of a super celebrity. You can purchase
cicada T-shirts, cassette recordings of cicada choruses, and
8 by 10 glossies. You can join a cicada chat room, learn cicada
origami, attend cicada events and dine on gourmet bugs and cicada
cocktails. You can even learn to speak in Cicadian. Aren't you
glad this plague of locusts happens only every seventeen years?
There are certain rhythms to life, cycles of nature, circadian
patterns to our daily existence. They help provide balance to
our living. The writer of Ecclesiastes says that "for everything
there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven." Change
is necessary to life, for if you are not busy growing and adapting,
you are dying. Elizabeth Kubler Ross called death the final stage
of growth.
Change, activity, work, growth are healthy for individuals and
for institutions. Organizations and organisms that don't change
or adapt to their environment stagnate and perish. But too much
activity and uncontrollable growth are not healthy either. One
must find the proper balance in life.
There are two times each year that are called "solstice." Literally
it means the sun stands still. The sun seems to rise and set
in the same place for a few days around December 21 and June
21, the shortest and longest days of the year. These perceived
pauses on the sun's journey reminded the ancient peoples of the
need for balance in their lives, the need to stop occasionally
to get one's spiritual bearings, and to recognize that there
is more to life than daily activity that has no meaning. As part
of our rhythm of living we need those times of worship, self-reflection,
prayer and solitude before we begin the cycle again.
In our congregational life together we have a great deal of
vitality and enthusiasm and much interest in accomplishing our
shared mission. It is good to see this energy. It is wonderful
to witness the great diversity of our people who bring so many
different gifts to our common life. This past year has been dizzying
and dazzling, and in the fall we will once again channel our
creative energy in new directions.
But summer is coming and it is time to change our rhythm. It
is time for rest and renewal, a time to listen to inner voices
of the Spirit, a time to see the grandeur of God, and to stand
in awe of the mystery of life.
I hope that you have a wonderful summer and that you enjoy what
God gives you, whether they be joys or challenges, rewards or
opportunities for growth in another direction. May this be for
you and your loved ones a time of healing and renewal, a time
of grace and blessing.
Dr. Harry L. Serio
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