Thought for the Week

As we watch the leaves fluttering to the ground, marking the arrival of autumn, we are reminded that nature’s cycles are reflected in our own lives.

Autumn is a time for letting go of things that have been a burden.

All the religious traditions pay tribute to such acts of letting go.

Autumn also reminds us of the impermanence of everything.

We have experienced the budding of life in spring and then the flowerings and profusions of summer.

Now the leaves are falling, the bare branches remind us of the fleeting nature of all things.

When we contemplate the changes that autumn brings we also grow more appreciative of all the beauty of nature that surrounds us.

The poet Wallace Stevens once said that“death is the mother of beauty”.

What those words say to us is that we cherish the beauty of a sunrise, of nature’s seasons, of a relationship, of a child’s hug precisely because those things will not be around forever and neither will we be around to enjoy them.

Autumn also brings home to our consciousness the challenge to live every day to the fullest.

In Tibet they say that the monks turn their teacups upside-down before they go to bed each night as a reminder that all life is not permanent.

And then, when they wake up each morning, they turn their teacups right side up again with the happy thought of“I’m still here”: a simple gesture that is a reminder to celebrate every moment of each day and make each moment count for something or someone in our lives. Reverend Bill McMillan Deacon St Columbkille’s Parish Church