Lessons of autumn

In this season of transition, we are thankful to God for His blessings

By Bishop Mark Beckman

During these days of autumn, the light has begun to shorten, the evenings and mornings are crisp and cool, and the colors of East Tennessee are on full display.

This time of transition each fall is an opportunity to reflect on lessons of wisdom this season offers. The great harvest feasts of All Saints and All Souls point us toward the great mystery of that final transition in life toward which we are all journeying. We know this precious life that God has bestowed on us in this mortal world of time will someday be a transition into eternity.

The fading of earthly light is preparing us for the endless day of God’s own brilliant light. These festivals are a reminder that we are still in a living communion with those who have gone before us, and we are now journeying toward the Kingdom in purgation, and with those who already share fully in the life of God in heaven. One day we hope to join them.

This reminder orients the whole of our life to a generous response to God’s infinite love for each of us. We are reminded to keep in prayer those who are experiencing purification as they are prepared for their eternal home with God.

In this country, we are also blessed to mark toward the end of this month a day of Thanksgiving. The narrative of a common shared banquet with the Native Americans who dwelt here before the arrival of European immigrants and those newcomers are a vivid symbol of the communion of love that will find its fulfillment at the banquet in the Kingdom of God for all eternity.

That story, a living memory of our nation, is also an urgent call that invites all of us to move toward that communion of love that respects the dignity of each human person.

The prayers for the Mass of Thanksgiving in our current Roman Missal speak powerfully of this. In the opening Collect: “Father all powerful, your gifts and love are countless; as we come before you on Thanksgiving Day with gratitude for your kindness, open our hearts to have concern for every man, woman, and child, so that we may share your gifts in loving service.”

The Prayer Over the Offerings reminds us that we have received from God “generous gifts so that we might learn to share your blessings in gratitude…and let the perfect sacrifice of Jesus draw us closer to all our brothers and sisters in the human family…”

And finally in the Prayer after Communion we are reminded: “In this celebration, O Lord our God you have shown us the depths of your love for all your children; help us, we pray, to reach out in love to all your people, so that we may share with them the good things of time and eternity.”

Powerful reminders and calls to respond in generosity to the goodness of God.

A final note on gratitude and thanksgiving as a daily way of life. One of the cornerstones of a healthy Christian life is a deep sense of gratitude. It is so helpful to remember daily the blessings of God in our own lives.

I recall a vivid day years ago when I was carrying the burdens of life and feeling anything but gratitude. I took a walk in the park and began my prayer by bringing each of these items that were causing me pain and difficulty directly to God. It began as a prayer of complaint.

As I walked, God began to show me how each of those things that seemed liked burdens were actually blessings in disguise. Humility, tears, and gratitude ended my walk that day.

God is infinitely generous to us, and once we know that, we can’t help but be filled with gratitude! That gratitude always flows outward in generous love to all those around us.

May the lessons of autumn deepen within each of us during this season of transition.