What Feeds Your Rest?
A couple of things clicked together for this reflection, time in the North Country and seeing all of the colors there and in the drive back through the Catskills. Developing some new activities for use in Resiliency Groups, so there may be something in this passage that can be a trigger or start the mental juices flowing as you reflect on what it means to rest and recover in your own Faith Tradition.
Maybe you can be in the heat and green of Florida, it may be the no humidity and brown and gray of out West is your fit. I have a need for change, and always get reinvigorated as we move through the seasons. This time of year is my favorite for what we see, how as the land prepares for winter birds fly past, the bucks cross the road and have antlers, and the colors come forth "As night length increases in the autumn, chlorophyll production slows down and then stops and eventually all the chlorophyll is destroyed. The carotenoids and anthocyanin that are present in the leaf are then unmasked and show their colors." (You can learn more about the why and how at the US Forest Department link at the end of this post) The colors are determined by the type of tree:
"Oaks:?red, brown, or russet
Hickories:?golden bronze
Aspen and yellow-poplar:?golden yellow
Dogwood:?purplish red
Beech:?light tan
Sourwood and black tupelo:?crimson
The color of maple leaves differ species by species:
Red maple:?brilliant scarlet
Sugar maple:?orange-red
Black maple:?glowing yellow
Striped maple:?almost colorless"
Growing during Spring, Summer, and early Fall colors are consistent as they get the sunlight and nutrients needed. But then the nights get longer and change comes. Just as when we are challenged, strive for our goals, have those moments of disappointment, and are moved from how we present ourselves to the world and the mood and expressions that come out as we face the Day. Roots dig in deeper, the colors change and those plants prepare for the rest they will have over the winter, I look forward to the buds and blossoms that will come with the next Spring. Seeing those colors brings the same sort of joy that comes from being able to overcome a challenge, and see someone I care for move through pain and difficulty. The smooth white blanket we will get when the snow comes, covering the ground makes me think about the new beginnings, the clean slates, and the grace that we receive when we are able to change, redirect our efforts, and forgive. When nature alone can not bring me there, time reading the Psalms, Devotions or Meditations, even Poetry can help.
Our growth and struggles, the change that happens can be as beautiful as the colorful Autumn / Fall scenes. The changes in the trees, roots growing deeper, branches reaching out further are aligned with what goes on in our character. Even to the point of at times getting dug up and transplanted to grow somewhere else, or being trimmed back so new growth can occur.
The 3-2-1: Two rules for life, the power of reputation, and the peace of wild things from James Clear, with the Wendell Berry passage, led me to reflect on this today.
Wendell Berry
"When despair for the world grows in me and I wake in the night at the least sound in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be, I go and lie down where the wood drake rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief. I come into the presence of still water. And I feel above me the day-blind stars waiting with their light. For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free."
Source: The Peace of Wild Things
In addition to my reliance on Scripture when I am looking for encouragement and a place where reading will help me to reflect on what I am feeling or struggling with Wendell Berry, Henri Nouwen, William Shakespeare, and a whole host of Classical Greek writers often help. With more and more of those I meet not having a Faith tradition, being a "none" or Spiritual but not Religious, I am finding that the place to start with them comes with the changes we have that can be seen in our World, what it is that nature presents to us. For them, it is just an example that can lead to resilience and posttraumatic growth. I see the confidence that comes from knowing we are a part of God's creation that he brought out of nothing, which when created was perfect and without sin. Without those things that cause pain, lead to change because of hurt and disappointments. In sharing it is a step in their story, like the planting of the bulbs that happens in the Fall so that their blooms can be seen in the Spring and throughout the Summer. Different ones will come at different times and in all sorts of shapes and colors. Helping others to see that the time spent now in reflection, prayer even, can help with being able to let go, forgive, be able to get a good night's rest so the next step in their journey can lead them to what will be next. A next that I am able to trust will be good according to the plan that God has for me.
https://jamesclear.com/3-2-1/october-12-2023 , 12 OCT 2023