Julie's 'Thought for the Day' for November's Sunday Stroll:

I love Autumn. This year we have again seen a display of beautiful colours as the leaves change from green to shades of yellow, orange, red and brown. Have you noticed that some leaves fall to gently on the slightest breeze and some hang on longer, until high winds and heavy rain bring them to the ground?

The reason trees lose their leave is to conserve energy and resources, preparing for the harshness of winter. It’s a survival strategy which allows new life and growth when the warmth of Spring arrives.

Autumn reminds us that sometimes we have to let go of some things,
so that new growth can emerge.

At this time of year, we also collectively remember, whether that is Remembrance Day, All Saints Day or Bonfire Night. As Christmas and end of year approaches, many of us miss loved ones more keenly. Letting go can sometimes be accompanied by grief.

There are quite a few Bible passages about remembering who God is and what God has done, but one of my favourite verses says:

Do not remember the former things,

  or consider the things of old.

I am about to do a new thing;

    now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?

I will make a way in the wilderness

and rivers in the desert.

(Isaiah 43: 18 -19)

God is always doing something new and leading us into new possibilities.

This involves us letting go of things of the past and looking for rivers of life that are springing up in the places that feel like a dry desert.

We might have to wait, as the trees do, but let’s not lose hope – let’s keep trusting God, as we pass through the season of letting go and wait expectantly for Spring and the new life it brings.

I wonder what letting go means for you today?

It might be about letting go of clutter and conserving energy

Or letting go of regrets, or things that have other have done to hurt you

Or letting go of the expectations of others to allow you to grow into new possibilities

Or letting go of old ways of doing things…

Some of these will cause us to grieve, or might involve waiting, like the trees do

but hold on - Spring will come!

This poem speaks about the sacraments of letting go and of waiting:

The sacrament of letting go

by Macrina Wiederkehr

Slowly

She celebrated the sacrament of

Letting Go…

First she surrendered her green

Then the orange, yellow, and red…

Finally, she let go of her brown…

Shedding her last leaf

She stood empty and silent, stripped bare

Leaning against the sky she began her vigil of trust…

Shedding her last leaf

She watched its journey to the ground…

She stood in silence,

Wearing the colour of emptiness

Her branches wondering:

How do you give shade, with so much gone?

And then, the sacrament of waiting began

The sunrise and sunset watched with

Tenderness, clothing her with silhouettes

They kept her hope alive.

They helped her understand that

her vulnerability

her dependence and need

her emptiness

her readiness to receive

were giving her a new kind of beauty.

Every morning and every evening she stood in silence and celebrated

the sacrament of waiting.