A seasonal guest editorial written by Father Patrick Briscoe, OP, editor of Our Sunday Visitor:
As the long days of summer fade and autumn鱿鱼视频app cool, crisp air starts to settle in, it鱿鱼视频app hard not to feel a shift in our spirits, too. But there鱿鱼视频app so much to praise about fall. The vibrant colors of the leaves, the shorter days and the cozying up with a warm drink all invite us to slow down, to take stock of where we are in life and to savor our many blessings. Fall naturally draws us to reflection. What better way to do that than through the lens of our faith? And the Catholic poet Rainer Maria Rilke can help.
Rainer Maria Rilke鱿鱼视频app poem, 鈥淎utumn,鈥� really nails the essence of this season. He writes, 鈥淭he leaves fall, fall as from far, / Like distant gardens withered in the heavens; / They fall with slow and lingering descent.鈥� The leaves, with their acquiescing descent, are more than just leaves 鈥� they are symbols of a fundamental principle in the spiritual life: surrender. Tempted to clutch the boughs of their trees, the leaves give in, however reluctantly, to nature鱿鱼视频app summons.
When they begin their descent, they let go of the branches they cling to. Entrusting themselves to wind and breeze, they yield to the whims of current and weather. Whether tossed violently or permitted to descend gracefully, leaves accept it all as it comes. Each leaf relents and falls.
Rilke鱿鱼视频app words remind us that this reluctance to let go isn鈥檛 just about the leaves. It鱿鱼视频app something we all experience. Life is full of changes, and sometimes we resist them, even though we know they鈥檙e part of God鱿鱼视频app plan. Rilke says in his poem that the Earth itself is falling 鈥� 鈥淎nd in the nights the heavy Earth, too, falls / From out the stars into the Solitude.鈥� We鈥檙e falling, too, sometimes feeling like we鈥檙e drifting into precarity or uncertainty. And it鱿鱼视频app so tempting to feel like we鈥檙e alone. But here鱿鱼视频app the thing: God is found only in the solitude.
鈥淭he man who fears to be alone will never be anything but lonely, no matter how much he may surround himself with people,鈥� writes the Trappist monk Thomas Merton. 鈥淏ut the man who learns, in solitude and recollection, to be at peace with his own loneliness, and to prefer its reality to the illusion of merely natural companionship, comes to know the invisible companionship of God.鈥� Solitude isn鈥檛 emptiness or darkness.
Rilke doesn鈥檛 leave us hanging in despair. The beauty of his poem is that it leads us right back to God. In the midst of all this falling 鈥� whether it鱿鱼视频app leaves, the Earth, or our own lives 鈥� there鱿鱼视频app One who holds everything 鈥渋nfinitely softly in His hands.鈥� The poem concludes, 鈥淭hus all doth fall. This hand of mine must fall / And lo! the other one: 鈥� it is the law. / But there is One who holds this falling / Infinitely softly in His hands.鈥� How comforting is that? In a world that鱿鱼视频app constantly changing, where everything seems to be in motion, God is the steady hand holding it all together. He鱿鱼视频app unchanging, always there, gently guiding us through the ups and downs, the letting go, and the holding on.
So, as we move into the heart of autumn, let鱿鱼视频app take a moment to really see the falling leaves for what they are 鈥� a summons to surrender. But even in that surrender, we鈥檙e never abandoned. Each leaf that falls is held by the same God who holds us. He鱿鱼视频app there in every season, every transition, guiding us with a love that never fails.