{"id":2399,"date":"2012-04-09T08:23:15","date_gmt":"2012-04-09T15:23:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/?p=2399"},"modified":"2012-04-09T08:23:15","modified_gmt":"2012-04-09T15:23:15","slug":"cycles-and-variations-on-a-theme","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/2012\/04\/09\/cycles-and-variations-on-a-theme\/","title":{"rendered":"Cycles, and Variations on a Theme"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"Autumn Creek<\/em>, detail, oil on canvas, click for full view.\u00a0<\/a><\/h6>\n

Generations come and generations go,<\/strong>
\n\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 but the earth remains forever.<\/strong>
\nThe sun rises and the sun sets,<\/strong>
\n\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0and hurries back to where it rises.<\/strong>
\nThe wind blows to the south<\/strong>
\n\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0and turns to the north;<\/strong>
\nround and round it goes,<\/strong>
\n\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0ever returning on its course.<\/strong>
\nAll streams flow into the sea,<\/strong>
\n\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0yet the sea is never full.<\/strong>
\nTo the place the streams come from,<\/strong>
\n\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0there they return again.*<\/strong><\/p>\n

It’s a rhyme of time by our “glass-half-full” ecclesiastical brother. How can I add to what’s already been said, except by more examples? The author calls it all “meaningless” and I see his point, but can just as well take the other tack.<\/p>\n

What are these cycles but an eternity within time?\u00a0And they’re an infinite resource thereby.<\/p>\n

Do we not have what we need,\u00a0and is there not plenty enough,\u00a0even for us born so late in time?<\/p>\n

We drink the water the ancients did;\u00a0we breathe their air.\u00a0From their same soil we dig our potatoes,\u00a0feed our kine, take our meals.<\/p>\n

The cycles of seasons,\u00a0and of rain,\u00a0sustains.<\/p>\n

Is this tiresome? Sir, try living without it.<\/p>\n

What we experience those before us also experienced, connecting us.<\/p>\n

Time’s a circle, not a line . . . or perhaps, at best, a spiral.<\/p>\n

We each have our turn, born, cycling through our stages, dying.\u00a0Nothing new about it . . .\u00a0except the variation on a theme,\u00a0the distinction of you and me.<\/p>\n

Each of us takes our turn on the swing,\u00a0gently pushed at first, then learning to pump on our own,\u00a0gleefully striving to fly the highest, maybe jump out the farthest,\u00a0or just enjoying the movement and the ever changing scene.<\/p>\n

When we get off, the swing set remains,\u00a0and others take their turns.<\/p>\n

We’re not quite sure how it happens . . .
\nwhy we get to swing at all
\nor who put the swing set there.
\nThese are mysteries to a child
\nor would be if they thought about them,
\nwhich they don’t, not for long,
\nand neither do we much either.<\/p>\n

The mystery remains.<\/p>\n

Meaningless? Maybe.
\nBut through my cycles, I’m changed.
\nAnd that, I think, means something
\nMeaningful.<\/p>\n

Whether half empty or half full, it’s still a glass,
\nand there is water.
\nCome and drink.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

________________________<\/p>\n

*Ecclesiastes 1:4-7<\/p>\n

Next: We seldom reflect on the days of our lives<\/em>. Coming Thursday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Another Easter’s past, another one will come. Our lives are cycles . . . within a world of cycles. Could be tiresome, but for hope that we’re cycling ever upward. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2399"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2399"}],"version-history":[{"count":30,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2399\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2963,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2399\/revisions\/2963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2399"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2399"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyattmoore.com\/blank-slate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2399"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}