Weathering the Change
Table Talk
Setting the Table
You are welcome here. Come just as you are, bringing whatever is on your heart today. Take a few moments and allow yourself to just be. Take a couple deep breaths, grab yourself a cup of coffee, light a candle, do something that brings you comfort. Allow yourself to be present in this moment.
Notice how nature can often offer us invitations of rest and quiet.
I have accepted fear as part of life – specifically the fear of change... I have gone ahead despite the pounding in the heart that says: turn back....
― Erica Jong
Every storm runs out of rain.
— Maya Angelou
2 Peter 1:5-8
For this very reason, you must make every effort to support your faith with goodness, and goodness with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with endurance, and endurance with godliness, and godliness with mutual affection, and mutual affection with love. For if these things are yours and are increasing among you, they keep you from being ineffective and unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Food for Thought
We open our eyes to the world around us and we see the nuances of fall colors starting to pop against the dulling greens. We are witnessing the weaving of a tapestry from every corner. I have often wondered what it is that brings excitement to my soul as fall approaches. Though my adolescent years were spent in tropical climates, I have enjoyed my adult years in New England, where the beauty of fall and winter lend their vibrant coats of earthly colors and heavy snow to the scene of nature. I can feel my excitement building as I see squirrels noticeably busier in the fall; they need to harvest nuts and seed, nutrition to last them through the winter while their metabolism is in a less active state, as they prepare to hunker down.
Is there something for us humans to learn from these intentional activities? How does the change in nature’s colors, and in the seasonal patterns of autumn, shape our own patterns of being? Are there seasons when we are encouraged to hunker down and store up goodness for ourselves?
The fall and winter seasons of New England bear similar lessons for our lives as those of the harmattan season of North Africa, where I lived a short time.
The dry, rainy, and harmattan seasons can be brutal. During the harmattan season when the desert winds are harsh, and nights can be quite cool, the basic need to hunker down is a necessity, especially for nomads. It becomes an act of survival. Just as we might hunker down in the cold, or in response to stormy weather, our patterns of living, of faith, and of prayer are often altered by the external forces of our lives. When change leaves us feeling unsteady, we seek out ways to be grounded and to find sustenance.
I find practices of stillness and prayer to be life-giving in the midst of the changing winds and weathers of life. These spiritual ways of hunkering down and re-centering myself include: paddleboarding, walking slowly, sitting and noticing my breathing, and meditative forms of prayer like lectio divina, visio divina, prayers of repetition. Even the quiet practices of finger painting or writing, knitting or crocheting, can lend themselves to our finding of rest and restoration when we need it most.
Our world often calls us into patterns of business and busyness, but the seasons of fall and winter remind us to quiet down, to rest, to find, store up, and to rely on the things that offer joy, peace, and nourishment to our souls and bodies. May the seasons of change around and within us, offer an opportunity to connect more deeply with the God who weathers the storms with us, who accompanies us through some of life’s most difficult changes, and who sustains us into the promise of a new season of life.
In the midst of the changing seasons of our lives, perhaps we can experience and receive an invitation from God, as well as from nature, to hunker down, to open ourselves in quiet reflection, to carve out moments of rest, to seek out the things that will nourish and steady our bodies and our souls. Reminding us that we are not alone in these seasons, and allowing us not only to survive, but to thrive, as we settle into the next season.
Choose a quiet practice that you can turn to as a source of nourishment in times of transition and hardship. This could be a short one to three word prayer that is repeated such as “strength” or “Lord have mercy”, or a practice of journaling, painting, or focusing on the breath. Even napping can be a practice of restoration. Try to incorporate a bit of this practice into your life every day for one week.
Pay attention this week to hints of the changing seasons around you — changing leaves, a squirrel harvesting acorns, sweatshirts and sweaters on passersby. Is there someone in your life who is going through a difficult change? Is there a way you can extend love to them that might offer a steady presence or an opportunity to experience stillness?
For a printable version of today's reflection Click Here!
Blessing
Loving God,
We give thanks that you are one who weathers the storms of life with us. Be with us through seasons of change — gentle and difficult — and guide us toward patterns and possibilities of life-giving goodness.
Amen.
A little Table Talk for your table...
What is your favorite season and why? Name one thing that excites you about each season of the year.
What lessons can we learn from nature about hunkering down and seeking quiet stillness?
When the seasons of life feel most difficult or overwhelming, what are your sources of strength or peace?
Try taking it to the Kids Table...
How do animals prepare for the changes in the weather? For changes of season?
How do you feel when things change?
Sometimes, when things are changing around us, or when changes make us anxious, angry, or frustrated, it can be good to quiet down and take some deep breaths. Can you try it? Find some quiet time and take three slow, deep breaths. How does deep breathing feel to you?
Meet This week’s writer!
Rev. Sandra Dorsainvil is a Ministry Coach & Retreat Facilitator through the Center for Career Development & Ministry. She also responds to individual and corporate ministry needs within and outside the U.S. as an independent consultant at CONNECT-SD, LLC. Sandra holds advanced degrees in psychology, rehabilitation counseling, and pastoral ministry; she is an ordained minister with ABC-USA, as well as a published author and retreat leader. Sandra is passionate about missions and enjoys paddle boarding.
To hear more from Sandra throughout the week, follow along on our Instagram!
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