There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven —
A time to give birth and a time to die; A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.
A time to kill and a time to heal; A time to tear down and a time to build up.
A time to weep and a time to laugh; A time to mourn and a time to dance.
A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing. (Ecclesiastes 3:1-5, NASB)

Turn around and turn again.
There was a time before the Byrds.
Turn the page, turn again.
There were the words before the Byrds.
Centuries before. Millennia before.
There was the truth of the words before.
We see our lives through a microscope.
God’s huge view telescopes
the microscopic picture —
the whole mural as well as our square inch.
He knows times we need to hate, to uproot,
to throw away.
He loves us through those and the times to love,
to keep, to dance, and to have peace.

God, thank you for all the times of our lives.
May we remember dancing while we mourn.
May we have peace in times of war.