Dear Friends,
Unsurprisingly, our theme this week is Autumn. A few themes come again & again: completion, gratitude, bounty, harvest and so on. We speak of the autumn of life – those of us who are living it know it is sometimes a struggle but maybe a focus on all that Autumn brings us – its bounty & its beauty will ease our transition through it. There is so much material for this, I think we will have another shot in October.
Marty Haugen’s ‘The Hand of God’ is our blessing this week. We hope you enjoy it. It comes from his Anthology III.
Love to you all
Autumn Psalm of Contentment
O sacred season of Autumn, be my teacher,
For I wish to learn the virtue to contentment.
As I gaze upon your full-coloured beauty,
I sense all about you
An at-homeness with your amber riches.
You are the season of retirement,
Of full barns and harvested fields.
The cycle of growth has ceased,
And the busy work of giving life
Is now completed.
I sense in you no regrets:
You’ve lived a full life.
I live in a society that is ever-restless,
Always eager for more mountains to climb,
Seeking happiness through more and more possessions.
As a child of my culture,
I am seldom truly at peace with what I have.
Teach me to take stock of what I have given and received;
May I know that it’s enough
That my striving can cease
In the abundance of God’s grace.
May I know the contentment
That allows the totality of my energies
To come to full flower.
May I know that life you I am rich beyond measure.
As you, O Autumn, take pleasure in your great bounty,
Let me also take delight
In the abundance of the simple things of life
Which are the true source of joy.
With the golden glow of peaceful contentment
May I truly appreciate this autumn day.
Fr Edward Hay
At the End of an Autumn Day.
In this autumn season of gratitude for the fruits of this Earth.
I give you thanks for the gifts of these days.
At the end of this day, full of thanksgiving,
I seek to overflow with pardon for all
who may have caused delay or disturbance, pain or injury on this day.
Lean near & close my eyes with your compassionate touch
so that I can sleep this night as I hope I will sleep in death – anointed in your love & at peace with all.
Blessed are you, O Harvest of My Heart,
Sacred Source of All Life,
Ever-watchful Guardian of my sleep.
Amen.
Harvest wrappings.
God hides his living seeds
in rosy apples, ripening pears
and juicy oranges;
in red tomatoes, rounded swedes
and long, green dangling runner beans.
God sends the sun and rain in bouts,
and vines with luscious grapes are decked
while fields yield broccoli and sprouts.
As harvest-time returns,
the varied ways in which God wraps
life-giving seeds
make a colourful display
of fruit & flowers of every kind;
beauty of pattern and design.
This is a feast for all to share,
filling our hearts with gratitude
for God’s incessant love and care.
So when, in many lands,
we eat the fruit and sow the seeds
in partnership with God,
he feeds us with delicious food,
renewing body, mind and soul,
and blesses us in many ways.
Then we, in glad responsive love,
will give him joyful thanks and praise.
Beryl Chatfield.