A November Meditation

Let nothing disturb you,
Let nothing frighten you,
All things are passing away:
God never changes.
Patience obtains all things
Whoever has God lacks nothing;
God alone suffices.

-- St. Teresa of Avila

As we live into the month of November in the northern hemisphere,  we are saying good-bye to our lovely colorful leaves on the trees, and  the trees slowly bow to the winter winds and accept being exposed to the harsh winter temperatures. All of us know that we are invited to take time to rest, “hibernate” from the busyness of our warm weather activities, and to “expose” ourselves to new practices of coping with our season of winter. However, like Teresa’s prayer – what may give us hope is that “all things are passing” and by the time January lst arrives, I start counting the days to spring!  I always thank the folks “down under” for sending us the change of seasons!  It’s nice to know that we share this planet together!

I also think that as I write this, I am a tad soft around my heart. It seems that somehow I have lived long enough to now find myself reading the Obituaries in our daily paper and notice the passing of the wonderful people I have met along the way as I ministered at an earlier time in this city.  And this brings me to another “passing” experience.

This week across the road from our motherhouse is the “Old Main” building of once St. Mary’s Springs Academy.  This building was built in 1928 and served as a high school until 1970.  Currently plans for a new high school building to replace the old building are in process.  There was a farewell ceremony to “kiss”  Old Main good-bye. Truly there will be a shift in the outer and inner landscapes of passers-by. 

November also holds a calendar of remembrances as well.  We began with All Saints day, All Souls day, the Day of the Dead, Veteran’s Day, Cookie Monster’s birthday, Daylight Savings Time ends, Election Day for public officials, and of course, National Clean Your Refrigerator Day on November 14, Stop the Violence Day on November 22, 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Thanksgiving Day, followed by Black Friday, followed by Buy Nothing Day. “All things are passing.”

So as I slowly and gently have these remembrances sift through the “fingers of my mind”, I share with you two of my favorite reflections – one is from Erma Bombeck, entitled:”If I had my life to live over”.  What would you write if you had  to make known what you would do differently if you had a second chance?  I know that No.1 on my list would be to Not blame my twin sister for all my troublesome neighborhood adventures!

The second video I think is a great prayer and reflection . It is entitled, “The Last Lecture,” by Randy Pausch.  Again, what would you write if you had the chance?    

Let us pray:
Let nothing disturb you,
Let nothing frighten you,
All things are passing away:
God never changes.
Patience obtains all things
Whoever has God lacks nothing;
God alone suffices.

-- St. Teresa of Avila