By Ginny Schaeffer, Director of the Angela Merici Center for Spirituality, a ministry of the Ursuline Sisters of Louisville

 

It’s that time of year, one that I look forward to and then dread its passing. The cooler temperatures are a reprieve from summer’s oven. Skies deepen in their blue with less humidity. Trees change their colors as they prepare for winter’s slumber. What a wonderful season; but it can also be sad, watching all the leaves let go and fall back to the earth from whence they came.

Yet, there is a lesson in watching leaves fall from their place on tree branches: letting go is a part of life and something that needs to be practiced regularly.

Jesus often spoke of letting go – letting go of self, letting go of injuries and grievances, letting of worries and anxieties, even letting go of wealth. This wasn’t about letting go for letting go sakes. It was about letting go to create space for the radically abundant life of love, peace and joy that he preached and practiced throughout Galilee. When we let go of what hinders or even blocks the way to live our lives fully, we too create a space for seeds to grow and bear fruit.

As this fall runs its course you might like to take a walk in a park, find a spot to sit in the woods and watch the leaves let go. Then, in the quiet of your heart, seek to find that which you need to let go of so that the seeds planted in that same heart of yours will have room to grow.

Remember, you do not have to do this alone. Ask God to be with you, to guide and support you in this lifelong journey.

Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God.

Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4: 6-7