As the weather has begun to get chillier and the leaves are just starting to turn from green to the blazing colors of red and orange and yellow, there seem to be one of two reactions from people I observe walking on the dell! “Ugh! I hate the cold. I don’t want summer to end….” Or “I love autumn, this is my favorite season of the year!” The first group refuses to pull out their warmer clothes and insists on wearing flip-flops no matter how cold it is. The second group can’t wait to put on their sweaters and hoodies and looks forward to frequenting Brewed Awakenings for steaming cups of cocoa and chai latte.
I happen to count myself among those in the second group and find autumn to be my preferred season of the year. I love the changing colors when the trees seem to put on a fiery show for free. I love the piles of pumpkins and chrysanthemums and decorative gourds that grace the shelves of local markets. I love the smell of cider and the sound of dry crunching leaves underfoot, and hunkering down under quilts and comforters when I fall asleep.
And almost as much as I love autumn, I also love the mere fact that we experience the changing of seasons in the first place. I have a nephew who lives in Santa Barbara California where the climate is said to be “perfect” all year round. What’s to look forward to, I wonder, when every month is as predictable as the next? Changing seasons with their accompanying shifts in temperature, humidity, precipitation and barometric pressure seem to better reflect our human condition. It’s as if Mother Nature herself understands that we human creatures are also subject to our own highs and lows, our own times of spiritual aridity and other times of rich fertility and creativity. Our own lives are filled with myriad changes and Creation responds in kind.
As we continue this semester with a record number of new students, may we be both mindful and appreciative not only of the changing seasons we observe in nature, but also sensitive to the changes that we and those around us might be experiencing internally. For those of us in a spiritual season of dryness, may we be patient and gentle with ourselves, recognizing that in due time, this too shall pass and a brighter more life-giving time may be just around the corner. Or in the words of Anne Bradstreet, “If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.”
And for those of us who are experiencing a spiritual season that is rich and vibrant, may we be grateful for this time and do our part to be compassionate and caring to those whose inner seasons may be filled with real struggles and challenges. So if you happen to know folks living in the southern hemisphere, don’t forget to wish them a Happy Spring this Friday! And for the rest, may this season of fall be filled with much to be grateful for, even if it’s isn’t your favorite time of year.
Peace,
Anne