“Why is summer mist romantic and autumn mist just sad?” ~ Dodie Smith
Many of us resign ourselves that the unofficial last day of summer falls on Labor Day. Autumn isn’t really here yet of course. But schools have started, pools have closed, vacations and leisure days have drifted into memory. To me this is a time-in-between. It is a liminal experience like twilight. If we only allow ourselves to appreciate the transition, there might appear a new appreciation of the warmth and lusciousness we experienced while anticipating the brisk splendor to come.
The days are getting shorter and the nights longer. It is a kind of descending. I suppose that is why a dear friend asked the other day that I not write about the end of summer yet. He reminded me that the Autumnal Equinox was still many days away. His love of summer is well known to all of us. But with it comes a loathing of winter. He dreads what is coming almost to the degree that he sometimes misses Fall all together. Perhaps it is the darkness he fears as if it were the cliff edge of destruction. It represents the losses and grief he has experienced in his life. He has had enough of both.
I told my friend there is good reason to savor the transition time of what I call Summers’ Last Hopes. Summer will always return. And among its’ hopes is that by letting go of the adventures of this season, we will be able to celebrate the arrival of the next. By doing so we can acknowledge who we are, and embrace who we are becoming. We are not alone. God is with us every step of the way.
Be my trusted guide, Lord
and walk with me from the summer into fall,
walk me through the season's change
and the season changing in my soul.
Robert Kenneth Jones is an innovator in the treatment of addiction and childhood abuse.
In a career spanning over four decades, his work helping people recover from childhood abuse and addiction has earned him the respect of his peers.
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Bob Jones’ blog An Elephant for Breakfast
And so, we trudge ahead, doing what we are expected to do. The terrible consequence is a life lived only on the surface. We arrive at our destination and find there is nobody there to cheer for us. We take nothing with us and finish as a weary traveler. Then we simply disappear into the background.This is God's better idea. As Gods exceptional and beloved child, each of us is given special gifts and special powers unique unto ourselves. Every gift and power ignite that little fire which burns as our passion. When we pay attention to this fire it becomes bliss. We are directed by its light through darkness, rain and life storms.When true to our course, following our bliss and honoring God’s gifts we become enabled to live fully. We become instruments of God’s dream. We arrive at our destination in the embrace of a loving community. We bring all of the accumulated love with us. We are never forgotten.Easter is a time for renewal and new beginnings. We have a chance to affirm our gifts and to re-ignite our special powers. Easter sets us free. Easter renews us. Easter brings us home.“When I look through God's eyes at my lost self and discover God's joy at my coming home, then my life may become less anguished and more trusting." ~ Henri Nouwen