“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven;” — Ecclesiastes 3:1
Today (Monday, September 9) is the first real rainy day we have had in over two months. Here on Puget Sound the return of the rain marks the beginning of our change of seasons from summer to fall. I find myself welcoming the rain today. Maybe because it is fresh, new and different from our weeks of warm sunshine. But also I find something familiar and comforting about the rain. It makes me want to stay inside and drink a cup of tea. It makes me want to say a few more prayers today as I hang out in my home office oratory.
It seems important to pause and appreciate these transitional times, to straddle the gap. The Celtic spiritual tradition calls them “threshold” times. It is good to stand here on the edge, in between, at the crossroads, and become aware of our fears, anxieties, hopes and longings. Can we welcome this change of seasons by letting go? Can we embrace the constant flow of “impermanence” as my Buddhist friends are fond of saying? Can it be that we are headed home to some deeper, mysterious reality in the heart of God? The chilly rain falling today causes me to pause and reflect on these things.
What are your thoughts and feelings about the change of seasons? What do you look forward to in the new fall season?
~ Paul