When I was driving to work this morning I
had this realization, I had not once looked at the speedometer as I drove. But
when I checked it in that moment I was driving 50 km/h. I played with this
fact, because I also drive through an 80 zone, so I did not check, waited,
checked, yup, I was driving 80. It has become so natural for me to drive this
route that I do it automatically.
There is so much in my life that I seem to
do automatically. Some days I am in the shower and I wonder, did I wash my hair
– and yes, I did. There are a ton of things I do the same way over and over
without thinking about it.
And then there are those moments when you
wake up in the morning and reality slaps you rudely across both cheeks in the
form of frost.
The seasons always seem to surprise me. You
would think after nearly half a century of summers ending in nights too cold to
sit outside that it would no longer shock, but it does.
So why is that. Perhaps most of you out
there reading this are fine with the change of seasons. Perhaps you are okay
that soon the invisible mystery of breath will be solidified before your very
eyes. Maybe you don’t even mind that it rains for months in the spring… But for
me, even the hint of a change from summer is unwelcome. I never get used to
cold.
The title of this column comes from an old
hymn. Perhaps you have sung it in a church before? The opening verse, written
by Frances Whitmarsh While in 1912 reads like this:
All beautiful the march of days, as seasons
come and go;
The Hand that shaped the rose hath wrought
the crystal of the snow;
Hath sent the hoary frost of Heav'n, the
flowing waters sealed,
And laid a silent loveliness on hill and
wood and field.
I wish I was there. I really do. I know the
changing leaves are going to be phenomenal. I know the cool nights make sleep
easier. I know Pumpkin Spice Lattes are back at Starbucks. And yet, I am pining
for 30 degrees and sunshine.
My attitude, although probably familiar, is
wrong.
I know this for certain because I have
tried in all other aspects of life to adopt a more relaxed and spiritual
attitude to letting things be what they are. When we accept life and live in
the moment it is easy to find oneself surrounded by beauty.
Embracing life in its fullness, the good
and the bad, the cold and the hot, is a spiritual practice. It is an important
way to be. I just find it hard.
The Bible starts… our religious manual as
Christians starts… with this long convoluted creation story. So over the last
4000 or so years of collecting religious stories the agreed upon starting place
is creation. Everyone should read that first. And to be fair, not a lot of the
first bit matters. I don't care if stars came before sea or vice versa. But the
message of the Biblical account does matter. The point matters.
So do you know what is said over and over
and over in that story? The one repeated truth? “And it was good!” God created
trees and they were good, God created swamps and they were good, God created…
wait for it… snow… and it was good.”
So, back to work, back to school, back to
coats and shoes with laces. Soon the shoveling, but first the turkey… life has
seasons. And we need to embrace them and live in them and love them. Even when
it is hard. There is beauty in everything.
