As the seasons change.... the journey continues!

Outside of the presbytery here in Cannock the leaves are falling off the trees and blowing around the drive. It is a sure sign of the onslaught of the autumn.  The wind is breezy but unusually mild for the middle of October, it seems that later this week the colder air will make a return. The leaves on the ground are dry and brown, decaying, obscuring the natural green of the grass, turning the landscape into a returning autumn canvass.

There is something familiar about the scene as I stand in the garden. I am observing the passing of times and seasons, reflecting on the comings and goings, the toing and froing of living. I acknowledge my link with the past as a passing pilgrim on a journey. I am a humble part of a body of people who have praised God during their brief stay on earth. I am a part of a communion of people, who for centuries have uttered the name of God on their lips, in times of joy or sorrow, of fear or trust. I am a member of humanity, grateful for my being a creature, created by a loving God, who permits me to call him Father!  

I am looking around at the passing seasons and sharing my experience of being a part of the process of seasoning! I too am passing through life, like the seasons changing each year and yet retaining the familiar, perhaps it is memory that provides the familiar. Perhaps it is experience that changes my outlook. It is memory that allows familiarity, enabling my growth and mellowing my pride. I have my moods, my spring optimism, my summer contentment, my autumn wavering and my winter floundering. With all my seasons I have a constant, one that I can thank and praise and adore and worship. I have faith in God who cares for me and loves me, who calls me and creates me anew, who guides me and saves me. I have a purpose and a meaning, a past and a future!

I read my afternoon psalms and I rejoice in the goodness of God!

The psalmist living thousands of years before me, looks up the heavens. As he stands in his garden he knows that he, must give thanks for the wonder of his surroundings. For the miracle of his being and the exultation that one day his spirit will soar into the heavens and his soul will be dipped into the vast ocean of God’s healing mercy!

As the seasons change.... the journey continues!