On the official start of autumn, I savored the last bit of my planned birthday celebrations. It was the perfect evening: sunny but with the crispness of fall air. Finally time to pull out the flannel, boots and hooded sweatshirts.
Perhaps most milestones call us to be introspective, but this month has been particularly so for me. Reflecting, evaluating, remembering and (at times) ruminating…a lot of sifting and sorting is going on. Necessary, significant and sacred work, yet not often spoken of. Tender, tentative and holy epiphanies and intentions discerned.
In his book, How to Inhabit Time, James K.A. Smith notes, “the most significant problem with nostalgia is not that it remembers but what it forgets.”
As we move into a new season and the last quarter of the year, it is a good time to pause for some remembering and reflecting. Sometimes we avoid this important work because of what it stirs up (and perhaps for what it forgets). Take some time to consider:
How did you experience God’s goodness, provision, or care in September?
What are you currently carrying that feels unresolved?
How are you praying about that situation?
What are you looking forward to in October?
What do you want to prioritize this month?
A Blessing for October
In this new season
may you see God
In the majesty of the transforming colors of tree and sky
may you remember that change, even death, can be beautiful
In the harvesting of fields and falling leaves
may you find the courage to release what binds you
In the growing darkness
may you experience a quieting of your soul
In the change of rhythms
may you experience rest and renewal
In this new season
may it all be so.