Dear friends - The air shifted this week as it transitioned from the warmth of summer to the cool of fall. As we consider this season, I invite you to reflect on a blessing from Joyce Rupp.
“O Antiphons for Summer and Autumn” by Joyce Rupp and Macrina Wiederkehr Farewell, O Breath of Summer. With your warm winds, you breathed on all within us that resisted growth. You tempered our desire to be in control and raised up a little wildness in us. O rustling leaves falling from the trees, Come! Come live inside our aching goodbyes. Teach us the truth of life’s impermanence. Empty us of all that does not bless others. Draw us into the waiting soil of wintertime. O Come! Adieu, beloved gardens of plenty that blessed us with your wealth. You sustained us with your abundance. Remind us of the world’s hunger and nudge us to give from our fullness. O harvester of wisdom, Come! Come fill us with the waters of wisdom. Show us the beauty of aging with grace. Prepare us for the long, dark nights. Gather from our lives all that has potential. O Come! Farewell, O Long Days of Extended Light, that embraced us with your wide expansive arms. You opened our eyes to the daily miracle of life. You slipped into our distracted hearts with every dawn and expanded our ability to see beauty in our world. O first white fingers of deadening frost, Come! Come with your touch of mortality. Carry us into the heart of deepest truth. Befriend that which needs to die in us. Teach us to be ready for the great letting go. O Come!” (Joyce Rupp and Macrina Wiederkehr, The Circle of Life: The Heart’s Journey Through the Seasons (Ave Maria Press, 2005).
Even as we say goodbye to the beauty of summer, may we move into fall with hearts full of gratitude for how each season helps us learn and grow. Autumn blessings! Jess