{"id":15095,"date":"2021-11-01T15:52:49","date_gmt":"2021-11-01T20:52:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/?p=15095"},"modified":"2026-02-26T13:34:35","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T19:34:35","slug":"we-must-endure-reflecting-on-life-and-death-in-autumn","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/2021\/11\/01\/we-must-endure-reflecting-on-life-and-death-in-autumn\/","title":{"rendered":"We Must Endure: Reflecting on Life and Death in Autumn"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We\u2019ve reached something of the zenith of the spooky or supernatural time of year that is mid-autumn. We\u2019ve celebrated the feast of St. Michael, Halloween has come and gone, and now we\u2019re headed to the feast of Christ the King of the Universe. In the midst of all of this, we pause for two days to remember those who have died. Today we celebrate All Saints, especially those who have gone unnamed. Tomorrow we celebrate All Souls, those who continue their journey to paradise through purgatory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here in the Northern Hemisphere, it\u2019s easy to see how autumn hangs together with the agricultural season. We are savoring the bounty of the harvest, and the land is falling asleep. Trees lose their leaves and their sap slows in its flowing. Many animals prepare for hibernation. If winter is the season of death, autumn is the season of dying. This seems an appropriate time to contemplate the spiritual side of life. We see how the world in its present state fails. Nothing lasts. Everything dies. And yet it isn\u2019t dead yet. What\u2019s more, it is fabulously beautiful. Mists and rain give the land an eerie aura. The trees seem to celebrate their slowing down with a symphony of color. Even the animals chitter and chatter as they collect the last of their necessities or prepare themselves for the long journey south.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“Ruined Monastery of Eldena near Greifswald” by Caspar David Friedrich <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But in the midst of this, the Church reminds us that even though it looks like everything is dying, there is more life, a truer life, roiling in the background, allowed to present itself more clearly as the material lets go. Angels are present to us; they stand behind the wind and rain and the trees and animals. Our guardian angels keep near us and care for us. The dead \u2014 those we so often think of as lost \u2014 are still present, still here without being here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think about those I\u2019ve lost. Grandparents I never met, some I knew for only a short time, friends who died too soon. But they aren\u2019t lost. They are here, they are with me. They pray for me and I can pray for them. Just as autumn leads to winter, so dying leads to death. But we must remember that winter is not the end. Spring and summer will come again. So too will life. The dead are in their spring, burgeoning forth with new life not complete, not made whole. And in the summer, we will all be resurrected, all come forth fully into halcyon days of joy and feasting and happiness because our King will come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is why it is fitting that Christ the King of the Universe is celebrated the Sunday before the liturgical year starts over. We end with a reminder that the whole universe \u2014 not just the material, but the immaterial as well \u2014 is ruled by one who is Love. In the meantime, we must endure. Edgar says so to his father in Shakespeare\u2019s “King Lear”:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMen must endure
Their going hence, even as their coming hither;
Ripeness is all: come on.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ripeness is all. And we are not yet ripened, we are not ready for the harvest. But that day will come. And this is what we remember now in this liminal space, this time between Pentecost and Advent, this time between Michaelmas and Christ the King. We must endure, we must hope, we must love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"man<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n

Dr. David Russell Mosley is a poet and theologian living and teaching in the Inland Northwest. His debut book of poetry, \u201cThe Green Man,\u201d<\/a> is available from Resource Publications. In his spare time, Dr. Mosley likes wandering around in the woods, spending time in community and smoking a pipe.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"We\u2019ve reached something of the zenith of the spooky or supernatural time of year that is mid-autumn. We\u2019ve celebrated the feast of St. Michael, Halloween has come and gone, and now we\u2019re headed to the feast of Christ the King of the Universe. In the midst of all of this, we pause for two days...","protected":false},"author":149585908,"featured_media":15096,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2178641],"tags":[934463,978112,2865,133229,698755734,8437,698755735,698755736,698755544,8329,124,3785,20333],"series":[698756626],"class_list":["post-15095","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-prayer-and-spirituality","tag-all-saints-day","tag-all-souls-day","tag-autumn","tag-christ","tag-christ-the-king-of-the-universe","tag-death","tag-feast-of-st-michael","tag-guardian-angels","tag-harvest","tag-jesus","tag-life","tag-love","tag-seasons","series-messy-jesus-business"],"acf":[],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/20211101-Caspar_David_Friedrich_-_Klosterruine_Eldena_ca.1825.jpg","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/plugins\/seriously-simple-podcasting\/assets\/images\/no-album-art.png","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"stitcher":{"key":"stitcher","url":"","label":"Stitcher","class":"stitcher","icon":"stitcher.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/feed\/podcast\/messy-jesus-business","embedCode":"

We Must Endure: Reflecting on Life and Death in Autumn<\/a><\/blockquote>