Hope is Like Steamed Crabs - Season
When The Byrds recorded Turn, Turn, Turn in 1965, I’m sure they weren’t thinking about steamed crabs (1). I’m equally sure Pete Seeger wasn’t thinking about steamed crabs when he took Solomon’s wise words and first wrote the lyrics. And I’m really certain that Solomon (2) wasn’t thinking about streamed crabs when he first penned his immortal words.
To everything (turn, turn, turn)
There is a season (turn, turn, turn)
And a time to every purpose, under heaven (3)
But that’s the way it is, there are different seasons of life. And it’s the same way with steamed crabs. Depending on where you live (4), there is a season when catching crabs is legally allowed (5). There is a season when;
You CANNOT catch crabs
You CAN catch crabs
Crabs have to be a certain size
When crabs are more plentiful
When crabs are bigger and heaver
There are rules about how you can catch crabs
And as you move through the crab season, availability and price change. Prices move up and down. Crabs that were available are now scarce. Crabs that you couldn’t get yesterday are now suddenly available.
There is also a season for hope. But availability and price of hope are not regulated by a governmental agency. It’s not restricted based on the harvest or the weather. Hope is not dependent on how many bars your phone has. It’s not conditional on Bluetooth or WiFi connections. The season of hope also comes and goes without connection to the calendar.
The season of hope is always open. The season of hope never closes. But sometimes hope seems to be in short supply. You can look and look for hope but come up empty-handed.
If that’s where you find yourself, this is the place for you.
But that encouragement comes with a warning. If you only look for hope within yourself, I’m afraid that you’ll run out of hope. There is an ultimate hope that never runs out, is never out of season, never runs dry.
(1) https://youtu.be/W3xgcmIS3YU
(2) https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ecclesiastes+3%3A1-8&version=NIV
(3) Songwriter: Peter Seeger, © T.R.O. Inc.
(4) https://mrc.virginia.gov/regulations/VA-recreational-crabbing-rules.shtm
(5) https://www.eregulations.com/maryland/fishing/blue-crabs-chesapeake-bay