As a child, I was no real fan of Fall. Though I grew up in Vermont, and while I did love the colors, Fall was the beginning of the cold, when activity was limited, when things really felt pretty bitter. The "bleak mid-winter" was just around the corner, and I was one who loved Spring and Summer, and even, at times, Winter, but Fall was just a reminder of the loss of the growth of Spring and the warmth of Summer. Perhaps it is because I now live several hundred miles to the South, but now I love Fall, the colors, the cooler weather, the change in view across the land. I love Fall. Perhaps also it is because I am a bit older, and recognize that our lives are punctuated with endings, our lives have "necessary losses," and this is not altogether a bad thing, but the reality of our lives. We move from Spring, into Summer, and into a long Fall, and then Winter - and this happens again and again, and this also happens in our lives as our lives move from growth to death, and along the way, we have glimpses of stark beauty, even in the midst of decline.
It is a glorious Fall, and I relish in its glory!
~The Rev. Peter M. Carey
