Autumn began on September 22 and we went from days in the 80s and 90s to temperatures in the 60s and 70s, and the 50s a few weeks later. One could see leaves beginning to change color, ever so slightly, and leaves began to fall from the trees. There was a change in the air, as someone noted to me at table, “It feels like fall.” And Pumpkin Spice Latte appeared in a variety of forms weeks before that!
Even memes on various platforms highlighted these changes. Some rejoiced in the colors and cooler temperatures. Others bemoaned the fact that they are simply a prelude to the frigidity of winter, the work of raking or blowing leaves, and trees that are bare. However one feels about the season of autumn, it is a time of change for both good and ill.
Change is a fact of life. A woman religious friend of mine often says, “The only thing certain in life is change.” To some this is good. To others, it is a challenge. If someone enjoys change, they are positive. If someone bemoans any change, they are negative. I once attended a workshop where the presenter held up a diaper and said, “You know the only people who like change…[PAUSE]…are those wearing diapers, and even then the change isn’t appreciated until they are clean and dry because they’re wearing a new diaper.” While we laughed at this example, we all knew that it was true.
But another constant in life can help us negotiate the changes that come our way. God is with us at all times. We are another “constant” in the midst of change. Change happens to us. Change happens through us. Saint Francis de Sales said, “Our hearts are trees, our affections and passions are their branches and our works or actions are their fruits” (Introduction to the Devout Life 4. 13 – 323). Notice it is our hearts, our, affections and passions, and our works. God is with us, constantly, even when we are not conscious of God’s presence.
Our hearts, no matter what shape they are in at various points throughout our lives, are within us during every stage, and every change of life, until they no longer beat to give us life. Our affections and passions, which can change greatly throughout our lives, even throughout a day, are branches on which the life situations we face are made known. In good times, those leaves are beautiful, whether green like summer or with the rainbow of color that fall can provide. In difficult times, those leaves start to fall and our branches become empty. Emptiness seems overwhelming at times. However, falling leaves make room for new growth that can come when our life cycle changes. And those affections and passions become visible by how we live, the works we do or don’t do, and the places in which we place our energies and treasures.
When I was Chaplain at Ohio Dominican University, the school motto was “Connect your passion with your purpose.” I would often rephrase that to “Connect your passion with God’s purpose.” In other words, make God’s Will your will and look for God’s presence in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, no matter what that moment in your life looks like. If we do that, the autumns of life give way to winters that help us lay fallow until a future spring brings new growth. Isn’t living God’s Will the one constant the Saint Francis de Sales sets before us no matter what?
So, I ask you, how’s your heart this autumn: strong and steady or irregular and in need of an adjustment? What are your affections and passions? Where we place our time and energy reveals the answer to that question. As Scripture says, “By their fruits you shall know them.” Does our passion reflect only our purpose or is God’s Will, evident too? What needs letting go, like leaves in autumn, to make room for the growth that God can give? I find this image, Lessons from Autumn, helpful in answering this question.
Yes, change is constant but so is God and so are we. What kind of autumn will give way God’s new growth in you, even through the dead of winter?
Father Paul Colloton, OSFS
Superior, De Sales Centre Oblate Residence
Childs, MD
