May 16, 2025 • 14 mins
In this heartfelt episode of the Infinitely Precious podcast, James reflects on the many transitions life brings—personal, professional, and spiritual. Drawing from his own recent experiences, including the loss of his father and a pastoral move, James invites listeners to find wisdom and grounding in the rhythms of the natural world. Using the four seasons as a metaphor, he explores how each offers insight into navigating change: summer’s celebration, autumn’s letting go, winter’s rest, and spring’s renewal. With gentle encouragement, he reminds us to honor our own season, embrace the movement of life, and remember that we are, always, infinitely precious and unconditionally loved.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Intro (00:00):
Welcome to the infinitely precious podcast produced by
(00:03):
infinitely precious LLC. Yourhost is James Henry. Remember,
you are infinitely precious andunconditionally loved for the
gift you already are.
James (00:11):
Hello, beloved. It's me, James, and today I thought I
would talk a little bit abouttransitions. I know I've been
talking about a variety oftransitions recently on the
podcast, transitions that I'mmaking in my professional life
as I leave one congregation inthe process of leaving one
(00:35):
congregation and moving toanother to lead there as a
pastor. In my own life, thetransition as my what appeared
to be my father's recovery aftergoing into the hospital turned
into his death and thetransition of what it's like to
(00:58):
live in the world without myfather's physical presence here.
So transitions are on my mind.
They have been a part of what'sgoing on in my life recently in
(01:18):
a very upfront kind of way, sortof if we're thinking about the
world in a not in a microcosmicway, but in a macrocosmic way.
And I think sometimes what welearn when we're making little
transitions in life can teach usand prepare us and strengthen us
(01:43):
to handle the big transitions inlife, macro transitions, if you
will, in life. And one of theteachers I turned to, it's not
natural for me to turn to it,but it's one that's becoming
(02:05):
more natural for me and that isthe natural world itself, the
world in which we live. And thefunny thing is recently I've
been appreciating seasons.Looking at the four seasons, I
live in a part of the worlddepending upon where you're
(02:25):
listening from, you may notexperience the same thing, but
we have really all four seasonshere.
There aren't just two seasons,there are four, summer, fall or
autumn, winter, and then spring.And it seems to me that each of
(02:48):
them has something to recommendthem and something to teach
about what do we do in times oftransition. How do we look at
the world? And the first for meis you can begin with any of
(03:08):
them because they're cyclical,any one of the seasons. But I
thought I'd start with summersince we're coming into that
time right now as we transition.
Summer is that full time oflife, bright sunshine, the
fullness, and perhaps the timewhen we're making the memories.
(03:29):
So, one of the ways that summerteaches me how to deal with
transitions is to celebrate themoments I'm in, to celebrate the
bright sunshine and the daysfilled with light and
possibility and hope, the heat.As a person who is cold natured
(04:00):
and I live with two people whoare warm or hot natured, it's
interesting. I always kid thatit has to be 90 degrees outside
before I can put on a shortsleeve shirt. It is pretty close
to being true though in terms ofwhat so I appreciate the heat of
(04:24):
the summertime, the warmth on myface, and so I try to appreciate
the moments that life is givingme.
And summertime is a time toappreciate perhaps the full
beauty of nature on display.It's not to say that nature
isn't beautiful in all fourseasons, but summertime is when
(04:48):
the leaves are greenest, where Ilive anyway, greenest and
fullest and brightest andwarmest and it's comfortable to
be outside and to spend time innature. It's probably the
easiest season. Summer gives wayto autumn or fall, and as it
(05:11):
moves in that direction and Ithink about how I process
transitions in my life, I thinkabout how despite the fact that
it's getting cooler, the leaveson some of the trees change to
(05:32):
bright vibrant colors, reds andyellows and purples, deep
purples, and in so doing, sortof paint a tapestry of color
there. But towards the end ofautumn and fall, the trees
(05:54):
without much fanfare releasetheir leaves.
They fall to the groundsometimes colored, still
sometimes brown as they arepassing from where they were to
someplace else to becoming partof the soil again, all of that
(06:20):
sort of transition, that lettinggo. So, try to spend some time
thinking about what are thethings that I need to let go of?
What are the things that I'mholding on to or that are
holding on to me that I justneed to let go of? I need to
(06:40):
find a way to just release them.Not because they're not good,
but because I can't carry themwith me in the same way that I
once did.
For me, when it comes to griefrelated to my father, for
instance, I know that I can'tjust pick up the phone and call
(07:01):
him, I can pick up and call mymom and she picks up and calls
me with some regularity, but Ican't just call him. And there
was a quality of conversationthat I won't have again and that
I have to let go of. I canremember it with great fondness
(07:23):
and be thankful for the modelthat it was, but I do have to
let go of my desire for that tocontinue to happen because I
can't have the quality ofconversations in the same way
because we are, we were twounique people, two unique people
sharing our own uniqueperspective on life. And we've
(07:47):
talked about perspective before.And affirming one another,
respecting one another andlistening to one another.
Dad was good at all of thosethings. So the particular
relationship that I had with myfather, have to let go of.
(08:09):
Perhaps the memories can linger,but the ability to continue to
enact it, have to let go of.Autumn gives way to winter. Now,
I have to be honest with you, Ithink that winter is a season we
like to avoid.
I think as human beings we tendto like to avoid it now, of
(08:30):
course there are people who copewith it well and from my hot
natured family members, winteris a time when they feel the
least caught up and strugglingwith the temperature. They dress
in layers, but they can removemore of their layers than I can
(08:53):
when they deal with that becausethe cold is something they're
used to. But in addition to thecold, winter is a time when
things lie dormant, when youkind of recover. And I think in
times of transition, you needmoments that you can sit down
and despite the fact forinstance, in my professional
(09:15):
transition, we're packing lotsand lots of boxes, There have to
be moments when you just sitdown and enjoy a cup of tea or a
cup of coffee. You have to slowdown enough to kind of let
yourself feel the feels and bepresent in them, perhaps feel a
bit numb, perhaps not feelanything, or perhaps feel lots
(09:39):
and lots of things in thatslower dormant period.
I think that it's the hardestperiod perhaps because we think,
let's distract ourselves, let'sdo something different, I want
to be in a different place thanthis, and we're interested in
(10:01):
rushing as quickly as possiblethrough winter so we can get to
spring and the promise of newlife. But I encourage you and
I'm encouraging myself not torush through this winter period.
Yes, it's still spring outside,but inside of me there are some
places that are in kind of adormant place, that are kind of
(10:24):
resting, and I think givingourselves time in the midst of
grief to just sit, just be inthe midst of the transition so
that we can draw strength forwhatever is next. Of course,
(10:44):
that final season, the one thatI haven't talked about, it's not
the final season, it's a cycle,so it just goes around and
around. But spring is a timewhen new growth happens, when
things start to spring up, whenwhat was dormant starts to come
back to life.
(11:05):
I encourage you to give yourselftime in the wintertime, but as
new life starts to come, beparticularly attentive to what
is rising. Is it new? Is itfresh? Is it the return of some
old things in new ways? Beattentive to those things.
So, let the seasons teach yousome lessons about how to go
(11:27):
into transitions. One thing thatI note about and D. H. Lawrence
did the same in a poem is thatwhen that nature does not
complain about the changes thatare happening. It knows that
(11:47):
changes are a part of things androles with them.
I'm not saying don't complain. Iam saying, however, that
learning to deal with the thingsthat are happening in our lives
as things change moment tomoment, day to day, and in the
(12:10):
big seasons of our lives when weare moving from one sort of big
part of our lives to anotherpart of our lives that will
become the big part. Giveyourself time as the seasons do
to settle in to wherever youfind yourself. If you're in the
summer, you can use thatcreative energy. If you are in
(12:33):
the fall, can ask what needs tobe let go.
If you're in the winter, you cansit back and try to just be with
whatever is going on inside ofyou and as spring emerges, you
can look for creative ways, waysthat you've been creative in the
past, but new ways to becreative as well so that you
(12:54):
might engage life in an ongoingway. Life is filled with
transitions. Some we ask for,some that are thrust upon us,
some that just naturally happen.In any case, in all of those
places, we are invited to bewhere we are and to engage the
(13:16):
world as best we can. Rememberwherever you are in the midst of
transitional reality that youare infinitely precious,
unconditionally loved for thegift you already are and that
you are a gift no matter howyou're feeling, no matter what
season you're in, you are agift.
(13:38):
Be the gift that you are, giveyourself the freedom to
experience where you findyourself as you move on, move
in, move around the transitionsof your life. Until the next
time, I wish you all the best.
Welcome to the infinitely precious podcast produced by
(00:03):
infinitely precious LLC. Yourhost is James Henry. Remember,
you are infinitely precious andunconditionally loved for the
gift you already are.
James (00:11):
Hello, beloved. It's me, James, and today I thought I
would talk a little bit abouttransitions. I know I've been
talking about a variety oftransitions recently on the
podcast, transitions that I'mmaking in my professional life
as I leave one congregation inthe process of leaving one
(00:35):
congregation and moving toanother to lead there as a
pastor. In my own life, thetransition as my what appeared
to be my father's recovery aftergoing into the hospital turned
into his death and thetransition of what it's like to
(00:58):
live in the world without myfather's physical presence here.
So transitions are on my mind.
They have been a part of what'sgoing on in my life recently in
(01:18):
a very upfront kind of way, sortof if we're thinking about the
world in a not in a microcosmicway, but in a macrocosmic way.
And I think sometimes what welearn when we're making little
transitions in life can teach usand prepare us and strengthen us
(01:43):
to handle the big transitions inlife, macro transitions, if you
will, in life. And one of theteachers I turned to, it's not
natural for me to turn to it,but it's one that's becoming
(02:05):
more natural for me and that isthe natural world itself, the
world in which we live. And thefunny thing is recently I've
been appreciating seasons.Looking at the four seasons, I
live in a part of the worlddepending upon where you're
(02:25):
listening from, you may notexperience the same thing, but
we have really all four seasonshere.
There aren't just two seasons,there are four, summer, fall or
autumn, winter, and then spring.And it seems to me that each of
(02:48):
them has something to recommendthem and something to teach
about what do we do in times oftransition. How do we look at
the world? And the first for meis you can begin with any of
(03:08):
them because they're cyclical,any one of the seasons. But I
thought I'd start with summersince we're coming into that
time right now as we transition.
Summer is that full time oflife, bright sunshine, the
fullness, and perhaps the timewhen we're making the memories.
(03:29):
So, one of the ways that summerteaches me how to deal with
transitions is to celebrate themoments I'm in, to celebrate the
bright sunshine and the daysfilled with light and
possibility and hope, the heat.As a person who is cold natured
(04:00):
and I live with two people whoare warm or hot natured, it's
interesting. I always kid thatit has to be 90 degrees outside
before I can put on a shortsleeve shirt. It is pretty close
to being true though in terms ofwhat so I appreciate the heat of
(04:24):
the summertime, the warmth on myface, and so I try to appreciate
the moments that life is givingme.
And summertime is a time toappreciate perhaps the full
beauty of nature on display.It's not to say that nature
isn't beautiful in all fourseasons, but summertime is when
(04:48):
the leaves are greenest, where Ilive anyway, greenest and
fullest and brightest andwarmest and it's comfortable to
be outside and to spend time innature. It's probably the
easiest season. Summer gives wayto autumn or fall, and as it
(05:11):
moves in that direction and Ithink about how I process
transitions in my life, I thinkabout how despite the fact that
it's getting cooler, the leaveson some of the trees change to
(05:32):
bright vibrant colors, reds andyellows and purples, deep
purples, and in so doing, sortof paint a tapestry of color
there. But towards the end ofautumn and fall, the trees
(05:54):
without much fanfare releasetheir leaves.
They fall to the groundsometimes colored, still
sometimes brown as they arepassing from where they were to
someplace else to becoming partof the soil again, all of that
(06:20):
sort of transition, that lettinggo. So, try to spend some time
thinking about what are thethings that I need to let go of?
What are the things that I'mholding on to or that are
holding on to me that I justneed to let go of? I need to
(06:40):
find a way to just release them.Not because they're not good,
but because I can't carry themwith me in the same way that I
once did.
For me, when it comes to griefrelated to my father, for
instance, I know that I can'tjust pick up the phone and call
(07:01):
him, I can pick up and call mymom and she picks up and calls
me with some regularity, but Ican't just call him. And there
was a quality of conversationthat I won't have again and that
I have to let go of. I canremember it with great fondness
(07:23):
and be thankful for the modelthat it was, but I do have to
let go of my desire for that tocontinue to happen because I
can't have the quality ofconversations in the same way
because we are, we were twounique people, two unique people
sharing our own uniqueperspective on life. And we've
(07:47):
talked about perspective before.And affirming one another,
respecting one another andlistening to one another.
Dad was good at all of thosethings. So the particular
relationship that I had with myfather, have to let go of.
(08:09):
Perhaps the memories can linger,but the ability to continue to
enact it, have to let go of.Autumn gives way to winter. Now,
I have to be honest with you, Ithink that winter is a season we
like to avoid.
I think as human beings we tendto like to avoid it now, of
(08:30):
course there are people who copewith it well and from my hot
natured family members, winteris a time when they feel the
least caught up and strugglingwith the temperature. They dress
in layers, but they can removemore of their layers than I can
(08:53):
when they deal with that becausethe cold is something they're
used to. But in addition to thecold, winter is a time when
things lie dormant, when youkind of recover. And I think in
times of transition, you needmoments that you can sit down
and despite the fact forinstance, in my professional
(09:15):
transition, we're packing lotsand lots of boxes, There have to
be moments when you just sitdown and enjoy a cup of tea or a
cup of coffee. You have to slowdown enough to kind of let
yourself feel the feels and bepresent in them, perhaps feel a
bit numb, perhaps not feelanything, or perhaps feel lots
(09:39):
and lots of things in thatslower dormant period.
I think that it's the hardestperiod perhaps because we think,
let's distract ourselves, let'sdo something different, I want
to be in a different place thanthis, and we're interested in
(10:01):
rushing as quickly as possiblethrough winter so we can get to
spring and the promise of newlife. But I encourage you and
I'm encouraging myself not torush through this winter period.
Yes, it's still spring outside,but inside of me there are some
places that are in kind of adormant place, that are kind of
(10:24):
resting, and I think givingourselves time in the midst of
grief to just sit, just be inthe midst of the transition so
that we can draw strength forwhatever is next. Of course,
(10:44):
that final season, the one thatI haven't talked about, it's not
the final season, it's a cycle,so it just goes around and
around. But spring is a timewhen new growth happens, when
things start to spring up, whenwhat was dormant starts to come
back to life.
(11:05):
I encourage you to give yourselftime in the wintertime, but as
new life starts to come, beparticularly attentive to what
is rising. Is it new? Is itfresh? Is it the return of some
old things in new ways? Beattentive to those things.
So, let the seasons teach yousome lessons about how to go
(11:27):
into transitions. One thing thatI note about and D. H. Lawrence
did the same in a poem is thatwhen that nature does not
complain about the changes thatare happening. It knows that
(11:47):
changes are a part of things androles with them.
I'm not saying don't complain. Iam saying, however, that
learning to deal with the thingsthat are happening in our lives
as things change moment tomoment, day to day, and in the
(12:10):
big seasons of our lives when weare moving from one sort of big
part of our lives to anotherpart of our lives that will
become the big part. Giveyourself time as the seasons do
to settle in to wherever youfind yourself. If you're in the
summer, you can use thatcreative energy. If you are in
(12:33):
the fall, can ask what needs tobe let go.
If you're in the winter, you cansit back and try to just be with
whatever is going on inside ofyou and as spring emerges, you
can look for creative ways, waysthat you've been creative in the
past, but new ways to becreative as well so that you
(12:54):
might engage life in an ongoingway. Life is filled with
transitions. Some we ask for,some that are thrust upon us,
some that just naturally happen.In any case, in all of those
places, we are invited to bewhere we are and to engage the
(13:16):
world as best we can. Rememberwherever you are in the midst of
transitional reality that youare infinitely precious,
unconditionally loved for thegift you already are and that
you are a gift no matter howyou're feeling, no matter what
season you're in, you are agift.
(13:38):
Be the gift that you are, giveyourself the freedom to
experience where you findyourself as you move on, move
in, move around the transitionsof your life. Until the next
time, I wish you all the best.
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