SPIRIT Blog October 3, 2014
An Autumnal New Year
Rev. Pressley
Shanah Tovah, friends. Happy Rosh Hashanah and High Holy Days to all of our Jewish friends and members. What a beautiful time of year to remember the source of all life, be mindful of harmful actions and directions we have taken, and return to our Creator with thanksgiving as a new annual cycle begins.
I love the idea of beginning of a new year at this time in the Northern Hemisphere. Our traditional new year according to the Gregorian calendar places it in the austerity of the winter season the further north we travel. But in Mediterranean climates, the autumn solstice brings relief from hot, hot long days when it seems that only the most adaptable plants are able to bear up. After the solstice, fishers were able to come in from the seas and the land itself seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. What a good time for us, too, to breathe and be grateful for and trusting of God’s graces.
Here in west central Florida we have a similar experience of the autumnal seasonal change to that of early Hebrews (with a lot more moisture.) In the summer, all but the hardiest plants seemed to send their energy down to their roots to survive the heat, and and now they begin to green above ground again. When asked to write a poem for our Fall Fling a couple of weeks ago, I felt a deep sense of happiness as the autumn seemed like a fresh encounter with the graces of God again here.
Autumn
Tampa, FL
Here, toward the end of the voyage,
A possibility surfaces as radical and telling as the
Pleiades on this autumn night:
Perhaps now there is time for joy. Perhaps happiness
Is our winter port, our dwelling after such earnest sailing, where
Next we may walk our fields and sing of honest
Efforts and potential secreted in these earthen mounds
Soon to be awakened by the graces of our Mother
Softly whispering, “The harsh sun is past.”
I pray that this will be a season of relief, renewal and returning for each of us.
Glad you’re there,
Rev. Pressley
An Autumnal New Year
Rev. Pressley
Shanah Tovah, friends. Happy Rosh Hashanah and High Holy Days to all of our Jewish friends and members. What a beautiful time of year to remember the source of all life, be mindful of harmful actions and directions we have taken, and return to our Creator with thanksgiving as a new annual cycle begins.
I love the idea of beginning of a new year at this time in the Northern Hemisphere. Our traditional new year according to the Gregorian calendar places it in the austerity of the winter season the further north we travel. But in Mediterranean climates, the autumn solstice brings relief from hot, hot long days when it seems that only the most adaptable plants are able to bear up. After the solstice, fishers were able to come in from the seas and the land itself seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. What a good time for us, too, to breathe and be grateful for and trusting of God’s graces.
Here in west central Florida we have a similar experience of the autumnal seasonal change to that of early Hebrews (with a lot more moisture.) In the summer, all but the hardiest plants seemed to send their energy down to their roots to survive the heat, and and now they begin to green above ground again. When asked to write a poem for our Fall Fling a couple of weeks ago, I felt a deep sense of happiness as the autumn seemed like a fresh encounter with the graces of God again here.
Autumn
Tampa, FL
Here, toward the end of the voyage,
A possibility surfaces as radical and telling as the
Pleiades on this autumn night:
Perhaps now there is time for joy. Perhaps happiness
Is our winter port, our dwelling after such earnest sailing, where
Next we may walk our fields and sing of honest
Efforts and potential secreted in these earthen mounds
Soon to be awakened by the graces of our Mother
Softly whispering, “The harsh sun is past.”
I pray that this will be a season of relief, renewal and returning for each of us.
Glad you’re there,
Rev. Pressley