There’s a steady rain falling again tonight. We've brought in some of the plants, hoping
to keep them from suffering from an early freeze. It doesn't make any sense to cover them in
this rain—a sheet will only get wet and it won’t do much to protect the
plants. We've gotten over two inches of
rain in the past couple weeks; a good way to prepare the soil for the first
frost. Our leaves are in the midst of
changing and the rain can sometimes make them fall before they have completed
their colorful cycle. The few hours of
sunshine we had today were wonderfully warm and a harbinger of joy.
It’s that time of the year where we bounce between joy and
sorrow, sunshine and rain. It’s all
about finding balance between them and learning how to live in the moments,
accepting all the emotions we carry and releasing them with the wind when
necessary and clinging to them as the warmth penetrates our skin.
Our rhythms are slowing as the darkness increases. Rising in the darkness, we seem to bookend
our days with the shadows. And it is
easy to succumb to the unknown that lurks in those hours when we are tired and
weary. The fleeting moments of
sun-dappled days are filled with hours of indoor activity, leaving us wanting
more time, more time, more time to throw leaves in the air and dance with the
breeze.
I need to make time to feel the rhythm of the season, let
the leaves fall on my shoulders, listen to the birds and watch the critters
scampering across the lawn. I need to
look into the shadows without fear and breathe the crisp air, deeply. I need to live in the moment where the sun
meets the clouds, where the last moments of night depart and the first rays of
day reach out, where leaves turn from green to gold and where I embrace the
cycle of the seasons.
O Creator, thank you for the space between light and dark,
green and gold, sun and rain. These are
the places where I experience all that life has to offer. If I wait for one or the other, I may forget
to live. There is beauty in the transitions of life and I want to learn how to
see them more clearly and with a thankful heart. Your Spirit is ever moving through all the
moments of creation. Thank you. Amen.