LIVING IN THE DAILY GRIND

Autumn... Harvest Time... Release... Renew...

The air is once again reminding us that fall is approaching. I love the smell of fall in the air, especially at nights. Harvest is in full swing: Juicy tomatoes, red and sweet... Crisp potatoes, full of good starch... Eggplants, cauliflower, broccoli, beans... Soon it will be pumpkin patch time!

Leaves will begin to change their color inviting us to feast our eyes on shades of brown, yellow, red and purple. By the time the feast of All Saints approaches we will begin our plans for Thanksgiving and even Christmas.

Fall is truly my favorite season. It is an invitation to let go and trust in the gentle, loving work of God within and around me. I am always reminded of Khalil Gibran's wise words as I enter this season:

Now I realize that the trees blossom in Spring

and bear fruit in Summer without seeking praise,

and they drop their leaves in Autumn

and become naked in Winter without fearing blame.

As I reflect on these lines hurricane Irene has been steadily moving along the east coast.  Many are already without power; flooding is underway; and NY city is preparing what might be a test for disaster preparedness. I mourn the death of those during this storm.

Gibran is inviting me once again to consider my nakedness before God and all creation.  No matter how much we prepare for whatever the inevitable disaster is on its way, let's face, we are never truly prepared.  Our first reaction is one of fear.  The Scripture reminds us that "God did not give us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power, of love, and of self-discipline." (2 Timothy 1:7)

Fall is that time of the year where we might plunge into the power the Spirit, risking love and disciplining ourselves to trust God above all else.

The following video is based on a prayer by Joyce Rupp, OSM -- Prayer for Autumn Days.

May your season of fall be filled with wonder, amazement, release, letting go and renewal.

IN SILENCE

Be still.

Listen to the stones of the wall.

Be silent, they try

to speak your

name.

Listen

to the living walls.

Who are you?

Who

are you? Whose

silence are you?

Who (be quiet)

are you (as these stones

are quiet). Do not

think of what you are

still less of

what you may one day be.

Rather

be what you are (but who?)

be the unthinkable one

you do not know.

O be still, while

you are still alive,

and all things live around you

speaking (I do not hear)

to your own being,

speaking by the unknown

that is in you and in themselves.

“I will try, like them

to be my own silence:

and this is difficult. The whole

world is secretly on fire. The stones

burn, even the stones they burn me.

How can a man be still or

listen to all things burning?

How can he dare to sit with them

when all their silence is on fire?”

Thomas Merton