I would find it hard to decide if I love most the music of the poetry or the life-depicting meaning of the Teacher in the third chapter of Ecclesiastes with its traditional pairings. I am not alone. Some of my readers will go back far enough to remember Pete Seeger’s classic song “Turn, Turn, Turn” with probably the most famous recording by The Byrds. Pete just added music to a faithful rendition of the biblical poem. The idea of a season of life for each of the opposite emotions it holds speaks to the human condition. My favorite pairings are probably in verse four – “A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance.”
Last week, I discovered my own pairing to add to the list. It actually began on September 17 with the following email: Congratulations! The Mississippi Library Association's Mississippi Author Awards committee has selected Becoming Ezra Jack Keats as the Adult Non-Fiction Book Award Winner for 2024. The award celebration date was set for Thursday, October 10.
Thursday was filled with excitement. My youngest son and husband traveled with me to the Natchez Convention Center. My daughter, unbeknownst to me, had arranged with the awards committee chair to introduce me and traveled in from Texas. A couple of writer friends from Hattiesburg also came to give moral support. I got to speak about my book to one of my favorite categories of people – librarians! The cherry on the top of all this came when the winners in the children’s and youth categories were long time writer friends. (Sarah Campbell for the children’s book Infinity and Linda Williams Jackson for the youth book The Lucky Ones. My regular readers may remember that I had reviewed each of these books back in August 2022.) Appropriate gifts for each winner were the books of the other winners! I look forward to reading The Weeds by the adult fiction winner and new friend Katy Simpson Smith. Beginning to end, Thursday was a time to revel.
Thursday’s excitement was followed by Friday. My To-Do list included a blood test for an upcoming routine doctor’s appointment, a grocery shopping trip, and the looming laundry baskets.
So I’ve added my own two lines to those of the Teacher: a time to be relished and a time to be responsible.
