October

“It’s the fall and the unfallen apples hold their brightness a little longer into the blue air, holding the dream that they can be brighter.” by Galway Kinnell from “the Apple Tree” 1976

Not much else gives me as much encouragement to pause for reflection as the swift jump from summer to fall.  Days shorten, the air is crisp, and leaves begin their slow descent to the ground, but not without first a splendid show…one last halleluiah before the trees begin their winter sleep.  I reflect on all the autumns past:  the beginning of the school years first, fifth, and college, and how one particularly life-changing year I awaited the birth of my first child with both apprehension and anticipation. 

Autumn means transformation.  Change.  A jump from what was to what will be in a very brief span.  It means letting go of the seasons that have passed.  Packing away our sundresses and swimsuits and making peace with all of the things we didn’t finish or do or see.  Unpacking wool sweaters and book satchels and thinking deeply about how much preparation we have made to prepare for what is to come.

And what is to come? 

It’s the fall.  And though we might look back on seasons past with nostalgia and a sense of longing, this fall, this season, is where God is calling us to be.  God is present in the here and now and is working with and through the changes in our lives.  Hallelujah!