We are in the midst of changing seasons wherever we live. As we move into Autumn (or Fall, as some call it), all around us are the signs of change. In my own location in the South, the days are now beginning to grow shorter and the trees and foliage have turned to brilliant colors. And then I know that it is just a matter of time before the winds will pick up and shake the leaves free to fall into a beautiful groundcover before the cold winds of winter will bring the dormancy necessary for new growth.
Joyce Rupp reminds us in The Circle of Life that we are in the circle of the four seasons, called “the great round” by the early Celts, formed by climatic changes as Earth rotates around the sun. Seasons have one thing in common: they usher in change and growth. Transformation happens right before our eyes and we can see it happening if we take the time to look.
We know, also, that there are seasonal periods in our lives. Pause for a bit and reflect on which season you are in. Maybe it is Spring with stirrings of hope….or summer with bounteous growth…perhaps Fall with a call to let go…. or Winter with a call to hibernate, awaiting growth yet to come. Our moods are not always in sync with the world around us.
However, I find myself definitely in Autumn just now. Especially with the Pandemic affecting so many aspects of our lives, I have a new understanding of the necessities in life and what now are no longer as essential as I thought. Now, in this Autumn season, I am realizing anew that there are things I must let go of so that the “new” can come. That includes attitudes and opinions as well as possessions. How about you? Pause again and ponder:
Where have you experienced Change in small or powerful ways in your life? How has that affected you? Are there “things” that need to fall away, even those things that were of great beauty for you in the past? Where have you encountered new understandings so that former opinions are now no longer so rigidly set? What attitudes need to be changed so that you can welcome what is yet to come?
I pray new vision for you in the beauty of each season…even as you recalibrate to move onward.
Reflection by Rev. Judith Stephens, Board of Directors of FUMSDRL/Hearts on Fire