12 - Fall to Rebirth
When October comes around, many people think of fall, some of Halloween, and most of us see the end of the year is fast approaching. While circumstances vary for each individual, collectively we have all experienced anxiety about a pandemic and world conditions that are on a ravaging path throughout the world. We have witnessed the injustice of racial inequities and violence in our communities and the devastation of wildfires, hurricanes, and flooding leaving people without homes and possessions. We feel the interpersonal strain and alienation fueled by the bitter political divide of our times. A mountain of despair has grown enormous and the needs of many of our brethren are great. But peace and love and hope are still present–ever abiding, though sometimes we must look hard to find them through the haze.
Even in our virtual, distanced state, our Paraclism community offers each of us a network of mutuality from which we can draw support, love and caring, encouragement and hope, even peace. We are fortunate to have weekly opportunities to share worship, learn and grow as devout believers in the Paraclete, to uphold the Keystones, pursue justice, and practice generosity. Your Temple leaders are working diligently to provide these opportunities now, with an eye for a bright and fulfilling future for this congregation and the wider community.
Around this time of year is when many also look to rebirth. Our world, like our plants, are under great stress, and are heading into hibernation. Now is the time to help with the process, enrich the soil, and prepare for a new rebirth in the future. Like the earth itself is retreating into its own winter’s death, it is waiting to spring forth with new life in the spring, so too shall our world rebound. While we help each other through the difficult times, we must take care to also remember to recognize and remember the past; whether it be very recent or very ancient, remember those times that are important to you. Hold close a token of remembrance, a token of memory, something to help you remember how deeply you are connected to others, sustained by those who no longer walk with us and memories of the past.
This is all a part of the Fifth Keystone, calling each of us to seek and follow our calling in life. We have to make the best of these strange situations we are each placed in, and forge a new path for ourselves and for one another. But always ensure the path remains true to who you are, and that it brings you joy to forge that path.
Thank you for being a part of this vital network of efficiency and mutuality, through which we find hope and bring about the change we want to see in the world. May it be so, and on into the future.
