a time to breathe in and a time to breathe out

  1There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven—

      2A time to give birth and a time to die;
            A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.

      3A time to kill and a time to heal;
            A time to tear down and a time to build up.

      4A time to weep and a time to laugh;
            A time to mourn and a time to dance.

      5A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones;
            A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing.

      6A time to search and a time to give up as lost;
            A time to keep and a time to throw away.

      7A time to tear apart and a time to sew together;
            A time to be silent and a time to speak.

      8A time to love and a time to hate;
            A time for war and a time for peace.

A time to breathe in and a time to breathe out. Or, a time to consume and a time to create. It's a spiraling circle, alternating from one extreme, through a transition, to another extreme, through another transition, always trying to work upward in the soul. 

11He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.

12I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one’s lifetime;13moreover, that every man who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor—it is the gift of God. 

The spiraling circle speaks of balance and seasons. It speaks of change and growth. It allows time to sit and time to run. This is not a gospel preached in our modern world, where it's all fast-fast-fast and move-move-move. Bad experiences and feelings are suppressed, and joy is pushed away for fear of "tempting fate." 

But I am learning to surrender to the circle. I am learning that there are times to breathe in–to consume, to bring things into myself, to take–and times to breathe out–to create, to take things unto others, to give. Currently, I am breathing in.... and meanwhile, my stack of books to consume grows ever taller ;). 

22I have seen that nothing is better than that [wo]man should be happy in [her] activities, for that is [her] lot. For who will bring [her] to see what will occur after [her]?