THE BEAUTIFUL TRANSITION OF AUTUMN

The Beautiful Transition of Autumn

As I write these next few lines, I am just after returning from a few days at the National ploughing championship which was excellently run in Tullamore, Co. Offaly and also just back from a beautiful park and forest walk where finally the season of autumn has shown itself in full bloom and it gave me a sweet taste of the colour's of autumn before the grey days of winter arrive. Walking each morning is a form of prayer for me. Most mornings I head to the prom or to the park and practice being absolutely fully present to the world. I listen for the 'wisdom' and the 'know how' that the seasons and in this case autumn, offer my life. Walking is a sort of pilgrimage and for me it is a beautiful spiritual practice that recognizes that walking out into the world calls us to wider horizons and sets us on a course to try to achieve our dreams, even if that journey is only a few miles along the Salthill Prom or around Barna woods and park. My walks make me in someways feel younger and more alive! Well I like to think in my case it does!

Autumn Beginnings

A thought that came to me during my walk recently is that I love and adore the season of Autumn. Autumn is the season of the harvest, when we reap what we planted in the spring and summer gone before us. It is the time to gather nature’s bounty, the fruits and vegetables, the grains and nuts. We eat them with thanksgiving and gratitude; and we can preserve them for the coming cold winter months. The colours change brilliantly all around us, and the sky and the sea are at their bluest against the awesome autumnal colours especially in the leaves. The air is cooler and drier; and there seems to be more clarity of vision, both externally and internally as well as spiritually. To me, autumn has always felt as if a new year is beginning: the glorious somewhat restful summer months comes to an end, and we return to our more rigorous rituals and routines at school, at play or at work. This can be the perfect time to make resolutions for the coming last quarter of the year. We remember the past few months and look critically at our lives: at the good things we choose to nourish and attend to, and at the negative or destructive habits and behaviors we resolve to eliminate. It is the opportune time to re-evaluate our lives, to pray and reflect more and create a strategy for moving forward. Autumn reminds us that flexibility and adaptability are crucial for staying healthy and balanced during the winter months ahead. During this time we will want to prepare for the challenges of winter by completing unfinished projects, clearing away clutter and debris, setting extra food and fuel like turf aside, and making sure that we are physically, emotionally and spiritually prepared for the cold, dark and wintry months to come.

It amazes me how the evening's start to shorten to there shortest and how the coldness comes back into the air. For me, Autumn is the symbolic season that reminds one to grab hold of all that life has to offer.  Autumn is the fulfillment of a hopeful Spring and glorious Summer. To make the most of autumn is, for me, to make the most of all that is good in life. Gone are thoughts of winter despair or a chilling and wet spring or an uneventful summer. Everything around us now in this autumn season is alive and vibrant and is at the end of full maturity. If I seize a autumn day, I believe I seize life itself and find in it all that gives pleasure and meaning. But nothing is as beautiful as all the trees, flowers, shrubs and bushes that are in full colour. It is truly a beautiful, magical and wonderful time of our year. It makes me think about the many blessings that autumn gives to us, such as the coolness and freshness in the air, the soft warm sun on our skin, wonderful warm to cool breezes, singing of the birds, animals of all kinds fully emerged and matured, fresh and sea waters flowing, trees, plants and flowers fully blossomed in an array of numerous colours. We all need to be positive and embrace abundance, love, care and joy into our lives, treasuring each moment as it comes. We get so wrapped up at times, well I know I do, with thinking about the past, a lot of the time trying to control the future and forgetting to enjoy and be at peace in the present moment of now. In this world there is strife. There is hardship, and there is suffering. There is inequality. There is injustice. There is also abundant beauty amidst it all. And within that beauty there are reminders tucked away everywhere, encouraging us to persist, to strive, and to bring our dreams for a better world to life. We have only to open our hearts and look, and we will see them. Please this autumn before the winter is upon us, try to embrace the positive in your life as it’s meant to be. We all need to start focusing on positive thoughts and creative ideas that make us happy and content. Less negative thinking, it only brings down our spirits and serves no purpose. Let's all try this autumn and always to make the most of all that is good in our lives.

Lessons on life

"There was a man who had four sons. He wanted his sons to learn not to judge things too quickly. So he sent them each on a quest, in turn, to go and look at a pear tree that was a great distance away. The first son went in the winter, the second in the spring, the third in summer and the youngest son in the autumn. When they had all gone and come back, he called them together to describe what they had seen.  The first son said that the tree was ugly, bent, and twisted.  The second son said no, it was covered with green buds and full of promise. The third son disagreed; he said it was laden with blossoms that smelled so sweet and looked so beautiful, it was the most graceful thing he had ever seen. The last son disagreed with all of them; he said it was ripe and drooping with fruit, full of life and fulfillment. The man then explained to his sons that they were all right, because they had each seen but only one season in the tree's life.  He told them that you cannot judge a tree, or a person, by only one season, and that the essence of who they are and the pleasure, joy, and love that come from that life can only be measured at the end, when all the seasons are up. If you give up when it's winter, you will miss the promise of your spring, the beauty of your summer, fulfillment of your fall. The moral of the story is, don't let the pain of one season destroy the joy of all the rest.  Don't judge life by one difficult season. Persevere through the difficult patches and better times are sure to come some time later."

Autumn Blessings 

This following favorite seasonal poem of mine by Deborah Ann sums up Autumn to me, "Autumn brings to the soul relief, as hot Summer days, slip to an end, God sent the season for weary hearts to restore, repair and mend. Unlike the Autumn trees, that shed their changing leaves, God sent the season for failing hearts to adhere, embrace and cleave. Just as with the Autumn winds, there comes a new refreshing rain, God sent the season for fraying hearts to increase, grow and gain. The Autumn sun is slow to climb, and dips much earlier into the night, God sent the season for sleepy hearts to rise, shine and awake in His light. God gave to us the Autumn season, so we could have a respite and rest, for it is the season for our beset souls, to see how much we are blessed!"

"Being" there in Autumn

Being there in autumn can be lending a hand, lifting a heavy load. Being there in autumn can be a smile on a cloudy day. Being there in autumn can be a crust of bread to the poor, giving shelter from the storm. Being there in autumn can be a thought, a blessing, a prayer. Being there in autumn can be showing support, and enthusiasm. Being there in autumn can be listening quietly while someone else has something important they'd like you to hear. Being there in autumn can be a friendly hug, or a warm embrace. Being there in autumn can be expressions, penned on a page. Being there in autumn can be the transferring of a certain glance. Being there in autumn can be offering your time. Being there in autumn can be sitting silently beside someone to watch the sun slide behind a silver sea. Being there in autumn can be wiping a tear. Being there in autumn can be chasing the moon at midnight. Being there in autumn can be a whisper, a word, a soft touch at the right moment. Being there in autumn can be riding the ferris wheel together without ever leaving the ground. Being there in autumn can be a telephone call, closing the miles. Being there in autumn can be a kiss on a fevered brow. Being there in autumn can be the gift of a flower. Being there in autumn can be teaching with kindness. Being there in autumn can be sharing the depth of a powerful silence. Being there in autumn can be wishing you were somewhere when you must be someplace else. Being there in autumn can be taking someone's place when they must be somewhere else. Being there in autumn can be driving through the blazing brilliance of autumn. Being there in autumn can be just holding hands. Being there in autumn can be waiting out the tough times. Being there in autumn can be touching God through the heart, and letting His will be done.

As a final thought, I pray that as the signs of autumn begin to show themselves all around us and that you will remember that each new day is like a cleared field after harvesting. Your thoughts, attitudes, and actions are the fruit and crops of what you planted. This autumn choose only the fruits and crops that produced a bountiful harvest of love, joy, health, kindness, care, prosperity, mercy, compassion and peace and let that which held you back drift away. And may you give thanksgiving not only for the autumn time around you, but also for the autumn time within you. This autumn season try to dislodge hate and replace it with love. Dislodge pride and replace it with humility. Dislodge anger and replace it with self control. Dislodge unbelief and replace it with faith. Dislodge revenge, and replace it with forgiveness. Dislodge complaining and replace it with praise. Dislodge evil and unkind thoughts and replace them with pure and kind thoughts. Dislodge gossip and replace it with encouragement. Dislodge laziness and replace it with caring. Happy Autumn everyone! I wish each of you as you read this thought, in this moment and on this day, much peace and joy. Feel this autumn, own it, squeeze the autumn fruit out of it. You have arrived at your destination; this is the present autumn of your life. Enjoy a beautiful autumn!!!