approaching the equinox...

Today is totally fall in New England: blustery but warm winds, sunshine,

plants ripening into reds and browns in the wetlands, end of the season wildflowers waving in the breeze, and my first pot of Pumpkin Chai from David's Teas! About 8 years ago, we discovered this brew while wandering about in Montréal. It is only sold during the autumn so I savor it. When mixed with a bit of maple syrup and milk as per the maker's instructions, it becomes pure ambrosia. I look forward to this moment every years as the season's true kick off. 

Christopher Hill, in his wise and delightful book Holidays and Holy Nights: Celebrating Twelve Seasonal Festivals of the Christian Year, reminds those who care that just as the monastic day "is about responding to the nature of the hour, not working to a schedule," so too the Christian Year. "The proper question is not, what time is it? Rather, we should ask, what is it time for - work or leisure, community or solitude, waking or rest, praying, eating, reading?" This is how our tradition redeems the culture's obsession with its clocks: time "becomes a servant of the holy human pattern."

Within the flow of seasons, we in the north are approaching the autumnal equinox - September 22 - one of two cross quarter points as the sun travels between the summer and winter solstices. Like her spring sister, this equinox evokes balance as both day and night are equal in length. As summer becomes autumn on its way into winter, however, we can't help but be aware of our limitations. In spring, we are awash in possibilities. Soil and air trumpet fecundity. Our souls seem to search for yet another May-pole to prance around as crocuses and daffodils proclaim the triumph of new life. The energy of the fall equinox is qualitatively different. We hear the heavens singing: "hello darkness my old friend..." The leaves are turning along with the light. The harmony of the equinox invites questions about our own inner balance and limitations. Are we heading in the right direction? Are we living as our best selves? If not, what might be changed?

The Christian Year is not divorced from this journey of the sun. Hill notes that the "life cycle of Christ in the liturgy is orchestrated to the sun in its rising, from its lowest point at the winter solstice almost to its highest (in years with a late Easter, the feast of Pentecost can fall within two weeks of the summer solstice.)" What follows for almost six months is called "ordinary time" from time that is measured or "ordinal." He adds:

This season is also called 'the green season' - the time of ripening. The color of the liturgical vestments is green. The great work has been accomplished. God and nature are joined, and redeemed creation is fruitful... and reaches a kind of peak at the August Feast of the Transfiguration, when the Pope crushes ripe grapes into the chalice at St. Peter's and Orthodox priests bless the orchards sill heavy with fruit. After that, the festivals of Michaelmas and All Hallows sanctify the harvest, the fall, and the rising dark in preparation for the new beginning. (p. 23)

As I cut the grass today, even amidst our current drought where outdoor water use is being rationed and our garden is hurting, the earth is still quietly inviting us to prepare for change. Paul Winter, wise soul and brilliant musician who has helped thousands unite the seasons of the sun with the wisdom of tradition, is hosting his first Autumn Equinox festival. For 40 years he and a cadre of artists, musicians, and dancers have graced the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in NYC with their Winter Solstice celebrations. They've done something similar for 25 years at the Summer Solstice, too. And who can forget the glory they have brought to this corner of creation with their St. Francis Day extravaganzas! It made my heart sing when I read the following note on FB:

On Saturday, September 19, we will celebrate the Autumn Equinox with a live stream concert from our barn here in the hills of Northwest Connecticut. The concert will be at 12 noon, EDT. The Autumn Equinox, marking the midpoint between the Summer and Winter Solstices, has traditionally served as a reminder to bring some balance into our lives.

Our theme will be "A Salute to the Multiculturalism of the Americas." The performers will include musicians from Brazil and the United States. This program will be the rhythmic complement to the more contemplative music of our early morning live streams this summer.

Having done now 40 annual celebrations of the Winter Solstice, at New York's Cathedral of St. John the Divine, and 25 of the Summer Solstice (the 25th having been presented in our barn this June), this will be our first-ever "musical party" marking the Autumn Equinox. The players will be announced soon.  The live stream will be free, but donations toward our production costs will be gratefully accepted. RSVP by clicking the link below, and get a link to the stream sent straight to your inbox.
RSVP: https://buff.ly/3i23ZZA
Facebook Event: https://bit.ly/2GPtiAz

With gratitude for living music,
Paul

Paul's wisdom, creativity and generosity moved me - especially after wrestling with the predictions of our nation's wisest scientists that we should be prepared to be in some form of lock down in the US for another 12 - 14 months. (go to:

https://www.msnbc.com/morning-joe/watch/doctor-says-at-least-12-to-18-months-for-coronavirus-vaccine-79896645596) 

This is reality. This is our new truth. And reality is the will of God even knowing it can be better. This is where we've been called to enter into the fullness of life on earth as it is... and to find our own ways of incarnating love and justice and beauty in the core of this chaos. Hill writes: "In summer we celebrate our at-homeness in the world. Michaelmass (September 29) balances that feeling. In autumn we feel our not-at-homeness, the sense of wanting something else, something we can't name. We feel like wayfaring strangers." Even while sheltering in place, these feelings invite us to ask God for greater courage to face and enter the approaching darkness. Maybe the music will help bring some balance to you. I know I need some help...