The Sacredness of Autumn

 

O sacred season of Autumn, be my teacher,
for I wish to learn the virtue of contentment.
As I gaze upon your full-colored beauty,
I sense all about you an at-homeness with your amber riches.

 

You are the season of retirement,
of full barns and harvested fields.

The cycle of growth has ceased,
and the busy work of giving life
is now completed.

I sense in you no regrets:
you’ve lived a full life.

 

I live in a society that is ever-restless,
always eager for more mountains to climb,
seeing happiness through more and more possessions.

As a child of my culture,
I am seldom truly at peace with what I have.

Teach me to take stock of what I have given and received,
may I know that it’s enough,
that my striving can cease in the abundance of God’s grace.

May I know the contentment
that allows the totality of my energies
to come to full flower.

May I know that like you I am rich beyond measure.

 

As you, O Autumn, take pleasure in your great bounty,
let me also take delight
in the abundance of the simple things in life
which are the true source of joy.

With the golden glow of peaceful contentment
may I truly appreciate this autumn day.

 

Edward Hays, contemplative, spiritual director, author, chaplain, etc.

This poem/prayer is taken from the book Earth Prayers

 

photo is of leaves at Earth Sanctuary taken by Helen Forshee. 

Fall Triduum

Every year, our “Fall Triduum” of All Hallow’s, All Saints, and All Souls

becomes more precious to me as each one focuses my attention on how connected we are

to not only those who are alive, but to all those who have gone before us –

relatives, friends, enemies, muses,(i.e. the communion of saints.)

Yesterday we celebrated All Saints Sunday

with one of the most “thin place” services of the year –

the one in which we commemorate all the saints

by posting their names on the walls of the sanctuary.

+++

Whether they are from long ago....

(Saint Leontia)

Or more recently...

(Jill Cooper, a friend)



Or a close relative like my father,

(Kenneth)

Or even the name of a woman

who has the same name of my

own mother who is still alive!

(Ok, I have to admit,

it was pretty weird to see

my mother on the wall)...



What wasn’t weird or strange was the feeling of their presence in the room with us.

What the Celts call a “thin place”

All of us together. In one place.

One very “thin” place.

These 3 days are as intertwined as a Celtic Knot.

With themes of death and resurrection,

we are reminded that there is no beginning or ending to our souls.

We move and have our being in a continuous flow of God’s love,

knowing that we are always in the presence of God.

 

“Beannacht De le hanama na marbh

(The blessing of God on the souls of the dead.)

Ta siad imithe ar shli na firinne

(They are gone on the way of truth.”)

Irish Blessing



So until it is our time to join all those saints who have gone before us on the way of truth,

may we continue to enjoy their presence, and

walk in love, seeking and serving Christ in all we meet today.



(last photo is of Fall colors outside the Columbarium at St. Paul’s)

watching autumn

This poem is from Joan Chittister's e-newsletter, Vision & Viewpoint.

It reminded me of a recent camping trip to Dosewallips during which

I sat silently with my husband in the forest on this bench,

watching and listening to the falling leaves.

A Leaf
by Bronislaw Maj

A leaf, one of the last, parts from a maple branch:
it is spinning in the transparent air of October, falls
on a heap of others, stops, fades. No one
admired its entrancing struggle with the wind,
followed its flight, no one will distinguish it now
as it lies among other leaves, no one saw
what I did. I am
the only one.

 

This photo is the trail we walked upon.

Such a lovely Autumn day it was.

Such an honor to be there to watch the leaves falling.

 

Second Spring

"Autumn is a second spring

when every leaf is a flower."

-  Albert Camus

horizontal thinking

"We spend most of our time and energy in a kind of horizontal thinking.

We move along the surface of things...but there are times when we stop.

We sit still. We lose ourselves in a pile of leaves or its memory.

We listen and breezes from a whole other world begin to whisper."

- James Carroll

Prayer for Autumn Days

I was driving through Port Gamble a few days ago and saw the first red leaves - the first sign of the change of seasons. Everything changes - nothing remains the same. I want to go with that much more than I do. The seasons are good teachers.

Prayer for Autumn Days
God of the seasons, there is a time for everything; there is a time for dying and a time for rising. We need courage to enter into the transformation process.

God of autumn, the trees are saying goodbye to their green, letting go of what has been. We, too, have our moments of surrender, with all their insecurity and risk. Help us to let go when we need to do so.

God of fallen leaves lying in colored patterns on the ground, our lives have their own patterns. As we see the patterns of our own growth, may we learn from them.

God of misty days and harvest moon nights, there is always the dimension of mystery and wonder in our lives. We always need to recognize your power-filled presence. May we gain strength from this.

God of harvest wagons and fields of ripened grain, many gifts of growth lie within the season of our surrender. We must wait for harvest in faith and hope.

Grant us patience when we do not see the blessings.

God of geese going south for another season, your wisdom enables us to know what needs to be left behind and what needs to be carried into the future.

We yearn for insight and vision.

God of flowers touched with frost and windows wearing white designs, may your love keep our hearts from growing cold in the empty seasons.

God of life, you believe in us, you enrich us, you entrust us with the freedom to choose life. For all this, we are grateful.
Amen.

By: Sr. Joyce Rupp, OSM
photo by Tom Ringold