autumnal 5

autumnal 5 on the revgals

I love SingingOwl's intro:

There is something so nostalgic about this time of year, at least in the Northern Hemisphere. The nights grow cooler, crops are harvested, for some of us the leaves are beginning to change colors. The scent of smoke is in the air, pumpkins are in the stores (or on wagons, or in roadside stands for those of us in the country). I'm thinking of putting away my summer clothes and pulling out the sweaters. And I have a tub of Fall-themed items that my husband just lugged up from the basement. I'm looking for my scarecrow.

And I have a scarecrow, too! I bought it at one of the Christmas Tree Shops on Cape Cod and it is so cute it stays in a living room corner all year round.

1. So many memories of the falling time of the year, but maybe especially taking a trek to Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts or to Julian, California to buy pumpkins and apples along the way and probably enjoy a hearty lunch or dinner at our destination, too. Remembering and anticipating Autumn smells like apple pies, crisps, and cobblers.

I also truly love going back to school rituals of buying clothes, notebooks, papers, pens, pencils and other supplies and the way it always feels like the new beginning it truly is.

2. I love corduroy pants (typically jean-styled) and skirts, in any and all colors, but especially camel, brown, rust and burgundy. Sweaters, too, ideally bright or intense multicolors. I do not care for the convention of switching to dark, sober, somber hues when the days grow colder and shorter and still for the life of me do not understand why or even when almost everyone started wearing so much black so much of the time, even in high summer and even at weddings. Did they or do they imagine black makes them look thinner and smaller? About favorite fall clothes, in New England and in the Intermountain West I loved knowing I had to have a warm jacket or parka on hand for the cold mornings that inevitably would arrive.

3. Campfire experiences camping out with a tent-trailer, occasionally in a rented cabin with friends or youth groups almost all year round, but in the fall was particularly fun because of the need to be sure we stayed warm enough. There always were plentiful nature trails and places to ride our bicycles along with meals that warmed us up and always were especially delicious and nourishing and filling.

4. Favorite thing again has to be the sense of new beginnings that in many ways functions like Easter, a feast of resurrected new life more halfway through the liturgical year though not quite to Advent yet, but I also love the way Advent begins during the season of autumn in the northern hemisphere.

5. What changes am I anticipating at this seasonal and calendrical marker? Something has to change and I cannot do life on my own, though of necessity I've been trying to do so.

Bonus: for an autumn food, it has to be anything apple and/or pumpkin, preferably baked, ideally with a crust.

Let us fear the LORD our God, who gives autumn and spring rains in season, who assures us of the regular weeks of harvest. Jeremiah 5:23b

Thanks SingingOwl and thanks, Jeremiah!

recharged/recharging 5

recharged / recharging 5 on the revgals

today Sally has given us 5 to consider...as she wonders, "what/ who gives you energy?"

1. it has been far too long since any person or community who encourages me and celebrates my presence and gifts has been in my life...I'm in deep waters no human can navigate alone. Although I consistently come out as a moderate E on the Kiersey/Myers Briggs, I believe I'm really an X who sources both in- and externally, but without having confidence people who know me and trust me with their own lives are there for me, I'm finding being alone with my own pain and isolation increasingly intolerable.

2. music from J.S. Bach, the 5th evangelist, as well as Beethoven (I've blogged this lots of times), especially symphonies 1, 2, 4 and 7. And oh, I love playing his piano sonatas, though I'm still stuck at 27 of the 32 total. However, most of the time I turn on the radio to enjoy some oldies and some current songs.

3. regarding scripture, it's not so much stories that bring me hope, refreshment and encouragement, but many of the psalms and Paul, particularly Romans.

4. these days it would have to be a bracing walk, though in times past I used to love passing time with friends, wherever, whenever. But what else? Worship! Many Sundays and most Wednesday evenings I've been worshiping with an ELCA congregation whose style we'd call evangelical catholic. The church's historic liturgy, reflectively performed by an assembly that clearly desires and chooses to be there and when we celebrate eucharist, proclamation of the gospel completely devoid of cute stories and anecdotes has become very healing for me, though I'm well aware of my continuing search for a congregation where I can participate reasonably to the extent of my gifts, education and experience (and no, despite everything, I still have no regrets whatsoever about not continuing in authorized ministry).

5. at this moment I need recharging to such an extreme degree I never would or could have imagined anyone could reach this point, but I am happy to write a prayer "to finish this weeks Friday Five...."

Holy God, You have chosen to come to us in brokenness and You have chosen the brokenness of the cross as Your fullest self-revelation. You created all the universes, yet You know each of us and choose each one of us as the paradoxical vessel of Your continuing Self-revelation. But at the same time You call and draw us into community where we can be honoured and cherished, participate and grow. In these years and hours in which I need to acknowledge the pieces still have not come together and rewoven, more than anything else, I beg, please, entreat and implore You to show me the community of Your current choice for me.

In Jesus' name...amen!