Sermon from Rev. Carol Kelly
“Autumn is the season of ambivalence and reconciliation, a soft-carpeted training ground for the dissolution that awaits us all, a low-lit chamber for hearing more intimately the syncopation of grief and gladness that scores our improbable and finite lives….Each yellow burst in the canopy a reminder that everything beautiful is perishable, each falling leaf at once a requiem for our own mortality and a rhapsody for the unbidden gift of having lived at all.“
~ Maria Popova
We are at once in tune with and yet overcoming the dying-away in Autumn. Our transformation, our willingness to “become” begins with letting go, falling, acknowledging our “fallen-ness.” And yet, while nature is shutting down for the winter, we are waking up. We are stimulated by the cold wind, enlivened by the crisp leaves and clear air, the beautiful colors, enchanted by the possibility of lanterns and candlelight again.
We are awakened because it is time to put our strength and our courage to the test. In the Book of Revelation as well as Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, (chapter 6) we hear of mighty evil beings who seek to devour what is good, true, creative, and beautiful within us. St. Paul gives us a clear preventative action: “Continually hold to your heart’s vision of Christ’s presence with which you can quench all the flaming darts of the Adversary.”
Our heart’s vision is our shield! Our heart is the center of everything. There is nothing light or romantic about the heart. It is a powerful organ and a powerful force in the Universe. It can be our compass and our source of strength. We are to summon heart forces at this time! We are receiving what we are not yet prepared for: The pronouncement of the future in the Book of Revelation. It reveals to us the “higher divining” of the deed of life and death on Golgotha, so that we may experience the Resurrection of Christ, inwardly, while we are still alive on earth.
Do we have the heart for this mighty revelation?
We are to receive the Resurrection before our death; a reversal of the death and Resurrection of Christ. The colors at the altar, light pink and pale green serve as a reflection of this truth, echoing the strong Easter colors of red and green.
Our risen human soul awakens into the world of spirit as nature falls away. We are in close touch with the souls of the dead at “All Souls” time. We can rise above the calamities, offenses, and sufferings that cause us so much grief in earthly life, as we gain the perspective of the world -aims, and the Divine plan unfolding.
This is dependent upon our own inner activity: To continually hold to our heart’s vision of Christ’s presence. This is where we begin to come alive.