october’s prayer
by bam
because i’m climbing on a train and then a jet plane at dawn tomorrow, winging my way to my firstborn’s last “parents’ weekend” at his leafy little new england college, i’m posting this a day or two early. here’s a bit of prayerfulness i wrote when my publisher asked for an october meditation. the sky above, rising across an autumnal prairie, is a bit of heaven on earth.
If you believe, as I do, that Earth’s turning, the shifting of the kaleidoscope from one hour to the next, across the arc of sunlight and night shadow, across the seasons of the year, is God tapping us on the heart, whispering, “Behold the Beautiful, I’ve made this just for you, this dappled sunbeam, this birdsong of the dawn, this crack of lightning in the offing,” then it’s whole-body meditation to immerse yourself in the blessing of autumn, Season of Awe.
Be it slicing zaftig pear, or plopping on a mossy log deep in golden woods, be it gathering apron load of acorns or plucking pumpkin from the farmer’s field, October’s days invite us to harvest the bountiful. To begin the deepening toward winter. To stock the larder with all we’ll need to make it through till springtime comes, and with it the rebirth of that holy season.
I’ve made a quiet practice of nodding to the wonders of each interlude of time. I resist the urge to hunker down inside. I nudge myself out the door, into the shriveled diminishment that is the autumn garden, into the boggy woods where trees undress, where naked boughs finger toward the heavens. Where the stripping down reminds me to drop my own unnecessary armature, invite in the Sacred.
I find autumn to be the season when faith is sown all around. On bent knee, we tuck bulbs deep into the earth — that’s faith galore, surrendering to winter’s slumber, believing that come the vernal sun, the shoots will poke through loam, will bloom and nod, will glory us in hallelujah hours.
Some say this is the wabi-sabi season, so defined as that stretch of time that pulses with “the beauty of sadness, and the sadness of beauty.” I find breathtaking poetry in the imperfection and impermanence of the dwindling all around — the light, the leaves, the southbound flocks who carry song to where we cannot hear it any longer. Is this not spine-tingling reminder to embrace our own imperfections and impermanence, to cherish all the more the hours that are ours?
Revel in the jewel-toned tapestry of autumn, in all its luminescence and its shadow.
Breathe deeply October’s prayer: Come star-stitched night, tiptoe beneath the heavens’ dome, wrap yourself in the cloak of Glorious Creation and Creator. Behold the Beautiful. God’s made this just for you.
what’s your october prayer?
I couldn’t dare to pray beyond your words, so I can only say a hearty AMEN. Your trip has been on my calendar and have been meaning to drop you a note to say you will be on my heart (even more than usual) on your winged trip. Thank you for this wonderful, beautiful tribute to Autumn. xo
bless your tender and bountiful heart…..squeezing your hand as i set out in the dark early early tomorrow morn…..
it tugs my heart to leave my little one, to leave home. even when it is my firstborn to whom i am flying. feeling a bit more anchored than usual at home these days, inside my familiar rhythms that ground me amid much exploring beyond my comfort zone…..
a wise friend of mine this morning added to my already knowing that a parent’s job is “to make our children comfortable with the uncomfortable.” my wise friend reminded me: “it is a truth of parenting that we, the parents, must sometimes step into the uncomfortable to allow for the growing of our children….”
and so i step…..held up by so many wise and loving hearts….
I love this, dear Barb. Just forwarded to daughter Annie, who loves autumn more than any other season. Enjoy your time with your sweet son and see you on Sunday eve, if you aren’t too bushed from travel. xo
Ceil Ceil Miller Bouchet @CeilBouchet ceilmillerbouchet.com
for evensong. a perfect autumnal welcome home…..
How I love viewing the gorgeousness of autumn through the kaleidoscope of your lovely words. I revel with you “in the jewel-toned tapestry of autumn, in all its luminescence and its shadow.” I count you, my dear, among the Impressionists: the page is your canvas; you splash color and beauty across each one. And your creations are always breathtaking.
I am now the blessed owner of Slowing Time, and I’ve already splashed its pages with grateful tears. You are a bona fide wonderment. Thank you for all you so lovingly share. xoxo
Amy, your words to our dear bam are so beautiful. Thank you for sharing them here so the chairs can see them, too.
My words are most sincerely meant. Our dear bam is a treasure. ❤
your tears are my tears, my heart and soul’s hallelujah! thank you so so so much, my kindred spirit, for opening its pages and sliding under its covers…..
Each time I open it, your beautiful book gathers me up in a warm, soul-filling hug. Thank YOU.
And safe travels to you tomorrow! xox
amy, the only way i can reply is to start a new thread. so here’s the thread: pure hugs and kisses!
I love this new thread, and lovely you. Blessings~ xoxo
feeling your October thoughts entering and bringing life to my Spring October thoughts…new blooms, new growth – and the goodness of the moment in the imperfection and impermanence…(in essence i’m a wabi-sabi seeker…in real life my personality seems to want to do quite the opposite;-)
blessed sonja sunshine, every time you reach out from across the globe, the globe feels embraced. some day we must meet on a rocking chair on a porch and consider all our entwined heart threads…..
xoxox
rocking chair on a porch….i’ll keep this invite close to my heart…
Your words have quickly become how I mark the close of each week, and I know they will forever be part of finding my unsteady way within the passage of time, the changing of seasons. And I wonder what I ever did without them…
oh, bless your heart, dina. i swore i sent a reply from my itty-bitty phone from faraway. but apparently, i am a techno dropout. your words melted my heart, as i read them while sitting under golden trees on my college boy’s quad, overlooking the berkshires….
thank you so much.
Oh, you melt my heart. Bless you. Bless you…
Such a beautiful, beautiful prayer for October.
thank you sweet and beautiful linda……xoxo
My favorite season! The way you write about it makes me love it even more.
Thank you
thank YOU for taking the time to wander over to see what was on the table this week….have a lovely one as sunday night begins to tumble toward monday….
I find such serenity in the winding down of the year in these final three months. Something about it makes me slow down too. A beautiful meditation, thank you, bam!
thank YOU for wandering by, my heavenly friend. xoxox we should slow down with a fat mug of tea, plopped on cushions in the same shared room….
I’d love to be penciled in between your book engagements!