Autumn Joy 

The Season of Autumn brings a festive time, traditionally following harvest and preparing for new beginnings. It brings its own kind of joy and a sense of well being for people in our planet's northern hemisphere. 

I have to admit that for most of my life 

  October has been my favorite month of the year. 

Now that I live in the North, 

  April is running a close second, 

    but October is still definitely on top for me. 

It may be partly because of the 

  now undeniable effects of climate change, 

    but October still marks 

      the escape from heat for me. 

This year I wondered about my escape from heat 

  for the first couple of weeks of October, 

    but the weather has at last begun 

      to feel more like Fall. 

It's no accident that Thanksgiving celebrations 

  happen in Autumn, for us, 

    and for our neighbors to the north in Canada. 

In the northern hemisphere, 

  Autumn is the primary season for harvest. 

Canadian Thanksgiving is in October, 

  and this year it was 

    a week ago as of tomorrow, October 19 - 

      that is, it was October 12 this year. 

Our Thanksgiving Day in the U.S. 

  is November 26 this year. 

It makes sense 

  that Canadian Thanksgiving comes earlier. 

In the North, harvest comes earlier. 

Canadian Thanksgiving 

  is the second Monday in October. 

U.S. Thanksgiving is the fourth Thursday 

  in November. 

Cooler weather brings its own kind of good feelings, 

  but Autumn also ushers in a season of celebrations, 

    high holy days for various faiths 

      and national celebrations like Thanksgiving. 

The coming holiday of Halloween, 

  much longer known as Samhain, 

    is the holy day that is coming soonest, 

      at least for those of us in the U.S. 

On the ancient pagan calendar, 

  it marks the start of winter, 

    the season of cold weather, 

      not just pleasantly cool weather. 

Beth once pointed out to me 

  that in our part of the world, 

    the first snowfall often comes 

      around Samhain, a.k.a. October 31. 

Of course it can come much sooner, 

  and with climate change, it may start coming 

    much later. 

My first year in the Inland Northwest, 

  the first snowfall came around November 7, 

    and the last of the snow that fell with it 

      finally melted completely away in April. 

I did not know at the time that the pattern 

  would not be repeated year after year. 

It's not my plan to speak 

  mostly about the weather today, 

    but weather profoundly affects the way we feel, 

      and that IS mostly what I want to talk about. 

Joy is far more important and more dependable 

  than the feeling of happiness. 

Of course, it depends on how we use the words, 

  but I think of joy as a sense of inner well being, 

    a kind of positive peace, 

      that sense of peace is not subject to being lost 

        in the face of life's changes and challenges. 

Autumn is more a reflection 

  of a sense of well being than its source. 

Harvest time is a source of well being 

  so long as the harvest is a good one. 

Our regional culture 

  is deeply entwined with harvest 

    and the well being 

      that it can engender. 

Over many generations, 

  people have had the good sense to help each other. 

One crop may fail 

  at the same time 

    that another crop greatly prospers. 

The hope of helping each other 

  is a far more dependable source 

    of joy and well being 

      than a single crop whose failure 

        could threaten many people 

          with the loss of joy, happiness, 

            and even many more losses. 

Many of us are familiar with some 

  of the history of the so-called 

    Irish potato famine. 

Very few Irish people call that period of starvation 

  by the name of potato famine. 

They tend to call it simply the Great Famine. 

It is true that the trigger of the starvation 

  was a potato blight. 

It is also true that potatoes were a staple 

  of the diet of the Irish people. 

When the potato crop failed, 

  as many as a million of the people left the country, 

    greatly damaging the Irish economy, 

      and, much worse, 

        as many as a million of the people 

          starved to death. 

At the very same period of time 

  other crops such as barley 

    achieved "bumper crop" status, 

      but most of those crops 

        were exported from Ireland

          even as many of the people 

            who raised and harvested those crops 

              died of starvation 

                because they did not own the crops 

                  or the land 

                    on which the crops were grown. 

Deep and enduring resentment were engendered 

  between Irish people and their overlords 

    on a neighboring Island (a.k.a. England). 

More than a century of war 

  and "troubles" came into being. 

Today most of Ireland is an independent nation, 

  and some resolution of the "troubles" 

    may be at hand as a result of Brexit, 

      but it's also possible that the troubles 

        may start up again in a new wave. 

Be that as it may, 

  the history of the Great Famine of Ireland 

    can serve as a paradigm of harvests and justice. 

To say the least, basic principles of justice 

  would require that people who work the land 

    must be allowed to share in the abundance 

      that the land produces, 

        enough to permit them to survive

          and even prosper. 

Autumn joy would ask no less of us. 

In truth, the act of sharing 

  can provide a basic and profound

    sense of joy of its own. 

The joy of sharing and enabling each other's survival 

  is an important part of life's meaning for us all. 

Giving thanks together 

  is enabled by acts of sharing 

    and helping other people to survive. 

As we deal with the coronavirus pandemic, 

  acts of sharing and helping other people survive 

    are taking on new meaning. 

The simple act of wearing a mask 

  can be a significant way to help others survive. 

The unwillingness of too many people 

  to engage in such a simple caring act 

    is a sign of denial as much as anything. 

We may not ever return to a way of life 

  that we used to regard as normal, 

    and such a loss can be really difficult to accept. 

What lies ahead may become something better, 

  a culture newly based on mutual caring and hope. 

My own hope is that we can learn new ways 

  of feeling and expressing gratitude 

    as we learn to care about others in new ways. 

There are indeed signs of such caring happening, 

  and we have a chance to see the caring 

    gain the upper hand 

      instead of the denial. 

What we will all need 

  is to learn to be kind to each other, 

    even when it is difficult to do so. 

According to the national legend 

  of the first Thanksgiving 

    sharing, caring, and enabling survival 

      were an important part of the story 

        of the first colonists from England. 

Three Sisters agriculture give us 

  a symbolic representation 

    of sharing and cooperation. 

Teaching the Three Sisters method 

  may well be a part of the way 

    that native Americans helped the colonists survive. 

Corn, beans and squash grow together, 

  helping each other with their unique qualities. 

The corn provides a pole to hold the beans 

  as their vines grow. 

The squash provides a living mulch 

  as the plants' large leaves protect the soil. 

Squash, Corn and Beans provide nourishment 

  that humans need to survive and prosper. 

We modern humans can learn to use our own gifts 

  to help each other in new ways day by day. 

As our days pass in the season of Autumn, 

  we are preparing not only for the holy days 

    of Samhain (Halloween) and Thanksgiving, 

      we are also preparing for celebrations of Light. 

The Jewish celebration of Hanukkah 

  will begin on December 10 this year.   

With menorahs and the candles for the eight days, 

  it's a Festival of Light. 

The Christian celebration of Christmas 

  is preceded by a Season of preparation

    known as Advent. 

This year Advent begins on November 29, 

  still technically within Autumn. 

With the candles of Advent wreaths, 

  it, too is a season of Light. 

The Winter Solstice, December 21 this year, 

  marks the end of Autumn, the start of winter, 

    and the beginning 

      of longer days and shorter nights. 

As such, it is the source 

  of all our celebrations of light. 

Ancient earth based spirituality marked it 

  as a sign of hope. 

Darkness and cold will not dominate us forever. 

Our Autumn Joy culminates in the Season 

  that celebrates the Rebirth of the Light. 

In times like ours, 

  we need the joy and beauty of Autumn

    and the hope of the coming season of light. 

Amen. 

So let it be.