Noticings - A Switch Flipped

The beauty of autumn shifting to a longing for peace

A few weeks ago I was at a Carrie Newcomer concert when she noted how it feels like Autumn comes like a switch is flipped.  It doesn’t feel gradual but instead often feels like suddenly the quality of the light is different, the feel of the air has changed, and it is clear that summer is past and autumn is here.  I’ve been letting that statement sit with me for a few weeks as I have experienced that switch being flipped.  Where I live we have not yet reached full autumn colors in the trees but we’re seeing glimpses and definitely feeling it in the air and seeing it in the light.  It is lovely.  Here are some of my autumnal noticings thus far, including a few Scout pics of course.

A friend of mine writes a weekly reflection called

Monday Manna

and last week she shared a prayer/poem from her book Ash and Starlight that I have been holding alongside these seasonal changes that are taking place.  Over the last week it was speaking to me about this seasonal switch but this morning as I re-read it, it shifted to a different switch. She gave me permission to share it in full.  It is entitled For Autumn.

Gracious God,
I praise you as the
Giver and Renewer of seasons.
The earth’s rhythms
remind me of
your faithfulness…
your love….
your promises…

The sun rising each morning,
the leaves turning and dropping,
the stars peeking through
mists of morning gray,
then greeting me as
the day kisses night.

Amidst the cycle, I find
a rhythm for my soul.
I hear echoes of that
ancient and eternal place
into which you beckon me,
and I say thank you.

Oh God, how will you
show yourself to me today?
I am longing for
a closer connection,
a stronger fire,
a self-forgetting confidence
that fills me and makes me
a whole, abundant person.

I want to find myself so full
of your loving presence
that it spills and splashes
over my life’s rim,
blessing and baptizing
every trip I make,
every meal I cook,
every task I do,
every person I meet,
every smile I share,
every worry I carry.

Thank you, God, for lifting me
over the threshold of this season.
May I watch for the stars tonight
and the sun tomorrow,
finding you in both.
Amen.

Psalm 19:1-6 * Galatians 2:20 * Colossians 3:17

“The heavens are telling the glory of God;
and the firmament proclaims God’s
handiwork.” - Psalm 19:1¹

As I read Arianne’s beautiful words again this afternoon, I found myself drawn to the line about longing.  Even as I have sat with these words for the last week or so, my longing today isn’t necessarily towards the seasons but it is a longing about something else that feels like it has changed with a switch being flipped.  My heart is heavy about the renewed active conflict taking place between Israel and Hamas.  I ache for the brutality that began this latest conflict and for the brutality that will continue on both sides going forward.  It truly feels like it started with the flip of a switch and is burning out of control now.

So my prayer today is for another switch to be flipped.  One that ends this conflict as quickly as it began.  I am not optimistic it will happen but this is my prayer for this day.

Lord, as the season feels it changed with the flip of a switch and as it feels like this war and conflict has begun like the flip of a switch, I pray your power to flip the switches of hearts and minds to bring peace. Amen.

1. Monday Manna