Can you feel the change? Over the landscape? Across the starry sky? Against your skin? Within your breath?
There’s a coolness in the air and autumn has blossomed its full array of color to behold. The sun has gently reduced its summerly glare and there is this sense of ripened contentment amid the earth’s enhanced hues. It always touches my heart—this turning of season—when the rhythm of creation delivers a musical cadence to the earth. The colors of fall, a symphony playing out the tonalities of heaven.
Holy Autumn
Of what nature this nature/
Bleeding color into the reach of trees?/
Crimson, rust, purple, and gold,/
Miracle of transformation/
Aflutter in a branch’s sway,/
Organic whispers in wind hear pray./Upon release, ascent to sky,/
Scent still strong of living wood,/
An offering I hold and lift,/
Bread of leaf, a mystery/
Yeast of sap, eternity./—jp 2023
And it’s that time of year when trick or treat may come to your door in the costumed array and gleeful faces on Halloween. This may be in the form of little humans or little non-humans depending on the pretend. It’s also a spiritual time in Western Christianity traditions to celebrate All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day with solemnities, feasts, and festivals for many Catholics, Protestants, and Anglicans.
Fall is my favorite season. It is a contemplative gift. It is the baking of breads. It is a time of prayer. It is the space of quieting. It is when my soul finds rest before the busyness of the holidays.
May the beauty of autumn fill your life with peace and joy, if only in sweet memory for those uprooted by war and unrest. May the beauty of creation come alive in your soul.
Tree at my window, window tree,/
My sash is lowered when the night comes on;/
But let there never be curtain drawn/
Between you and me./
—Tree At My Window, by Robert Frost
Thanks for stopping by. ♥