Although we are technically three weeks away from fall, the three-day weekend gives us time to consider fall cleaning, which is different in many ways from spring cleaning. We tend to think of fall cleaning as preparing for the cooler weather ahead, such as bringing in summer furniture or tidying up the garden,
But there’s another kind of fall cleaning we need to do: cleaning our minds, setting our priorities. This is more difficult, especially with the sheer volume of actions coming out of Washington, not to mention the rest of the world. It almost seems as if there was no summer respite, no time to catch our breath.
The weather this coming week may fool us and bring us into a lull thinking that summer will still be with us even beyond the vernal equinox, but we should not simply be taken in by the warmer weather. Cleaning our minds and finding common ground with others will enable us to overcome the trepidation we often find ourselves feeling as we hear and read what is going on around us.
Prayer for the Day
The world is too much with us, rocking us like swelling waves,
And we come to You, Compassionate Healer, for respite;
Worried about those things that do not matter,
We often forget to search for your healing grace.
Bestow on us, O Merciful One, the wisdom to hear other voices,
And to listen with our hearts not just our heads.
In the name of the One who always listens,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
It’s the blur that makes you strive for clear vision.
Verliza Gajeles, Filipino poet
Clarity of mind means clarity of passion, too; that is why a great and clear mind loves ardently and sees distinctly what it loves.
Blaise Pascal, French mathematician, philosopher (1623-1662)
Thus says the Lord: In a time of favor I have answered you,
On a day of salvation I have helped you;
I have kept you and given you as a covenant to my people,
To establish the land, to apportion the desolate heritages;
Saying to the prisoners, “Come out,”
To those in darkness, “Show yourselves.”
Isaiah 49: 8-9a