What Is Next?

30 Sep

“But now in September the garden has cooled, and with it my possessiveness.  The sun warms my back instead of beating on my head … The harvest has dwindled, and I have grown apart from the intense midsummer relationship that brought it on.”  ~ Robert Finch

Our seasons are forever signaling shifts in our lives.  When summer is in full swing, there are all sorts of sights and sounds associated with it: baseball games, gardening, outdoor volleyball, swimming, beach fun, camping, boating, fishing and a myriad of events.

As summer fades, those activities begin to end.  It becomes too cool for swimming.  School takes over the time that was put into summer athletics.  Autumn claims the plants and vegetation of summer.  The world begins to look different.  While we might not have the cheery colors and floral scents of summer flowers, we are treated to the bright colors of leaves before they drop from the trees.  Autumn heralds the end of summer and the approach of winter.

We are always moving on to something new.  Each time we do so, we think to ourselves, “What’s next?”  We know that we will lose some of the things we have grown accustomed to having yet we also realize that we will gain something new, something different.  That is the cycle of life.

Tomorrow, we move into October.  October is one of the months of Mary, the Month of the Rosary.  It is also a month dedicated to the respect for life.  Mary is a great witness of the respect for life as she accepted the angel’s invitation to become the Mother of God.  She had choices.  Her choice was to accept God’s will.

We have choices, too.  We make choices every day of our lives.  Of the many choices that confront us each day is the choice to accept and embrace God’s will or the choice to reject and deny God’s will.  You might think that is rather simplistic to say; however, that is precisely what we do.  If God invites us to deeper holiness and we say no, we reject Him. If God calls us to serve our brothers and sisters and we do not attend to their needs, we not only deny them, we deny Christ.

The choices that we make are crucial. The consequences of our choices are in direct proportion to the choice we make.  If we choose to deny the Lord, our consequences will be dire.  If we embrace God’s will, the consequences will be, well, heavenly.

FAITH ACTION:  As our seasons shift, we ask, “What’s next?”  Look to what is coming up in your life and do all that you can to embrace God’s will.