Aligning with Grace

We are almost half way into a new month, and I am beginning to think of the fall season... I am beginning to look forward to nesting, to journeying inward, to curling up on the couch with a  warm throw, and a steaming cup of tea... It is a time for reflection, and greater contemplation... This morning I read an article by Christine Valters Paintner, "Abbess" of Abbey of the Arts, an online virtual monastery, that a wonderful friend introduced me to, and she spoke of autumn and winter and being the seasons of the monk. So true! After the buoyancy and openness of the summer months, there is a true desire for me to retreat, and to give myself wholly to the coming season... The days are getting shorter, the sun sets earlier, and in a few days the Autumnal Exquinox will arrive, followed by the High Holy Days... Paintner began her article with this beautiful poem by Rilke, which I shall leave you with, and I've included another autumn poem by Rilke translated b...

September has arrived, and we are slouching towards fall... I think of this, on my walk, as I examine the first of the leaves that have fallen from the trees, partially due to the drought conditions of this summer, but also partially due to the exhaustion these trees have experienced during the hottest summer on record... With the coming fall season we release the past season, ever mindful that it a time for both endings and new beginnings... Angeles Arriens, in her book, Living in Gratitude , writes about this time of year: "In September, we reenter our daily lives from a renewed place and move forward into full engagement. We are able to see more clearly our blessings and our learnings, and we experience the gratitude that naturally results. And we seek opportunities to bring our lives into congruence with the new perspectives we have gained..." It is also a time to recommit to goals, choices we may have abandoned or forgotten, and implement needed changes for the coming se...