As summer winds down, we are adjusting to what is becoming our “new normal” on our Common Home: “unseasonable temperatures,” we call it.  Kids and teachers are back in schools—which now, mostly in our country, have some air-conditioning.  But what of the rest of the world?  The rhythms of human activities shaped by generations of practice and habit still are built into the older ones among us.  Perhaps the younger generations only know these rhythms in their DNA, if not in their lived experience.    

Much of our cultural time-keeping in this part of our world and, particularly in at least the lower 48 states, is more built on our seasonal calendar of activities like school, fall sports, harvests and holiday celebrations than on our experience of growing, seasonal storms, and adaptation to “weather extremes.”  Floods still take us by surprise.  Scarcity of certain foods or outbreaks of diseases surprise and scare us.   We’re learning to live in fear—of one another, of our dear planet, of the daily experiences we take for granted – but it has not always been so.  We do not need to continue this fear-driven practice.   We all have the power to change, to adapt, to be resilient, to find and share new—and rediscover “old”—ways of moving forward together. 

While the temperatures and dates may change when we compile our data, we can use our lived experience as human beings to meet our own times with creativity, courage, and hard work.  Maybe the tools will be different from those of our ancestors, but the necessity to adapt, to assess our situation, to share our wisdom, and to help one another remains.   

During the Season of Creation, from September 1 to October 4, the Catholic Church invites the people of God to ground ourselves in awareness of God’s creation spiritually in both prayer and lived experience. While there are many spiritual practices that we can embrace, perhaps you can start with a contemplative stance: listen; look. Ask the plants: they know when their growing cycle has peaked; they know what they need to bear fruit and seed. They know when to stand and protect the soil, even in their “finished” state. Ask the animals: they migrate when they can’t find a safe place to raise their young or find the food they depend on, or when the cycles of their ancient programming—the day-length and the seasonal shifts—say, “Go!” Ask the wise ones—not the “influencers” creating the latest trends, but those who have thought long, studied carefully, and observed deeply. Ask those who have been brave in the face of danger or deprivation. 

Ask one who recently left us, Wendell Berry, who wrote,  

“Listen to carrion—put your ear 
Close, and hear the faint chattering 
Of the songs that are to come. 
Expect the end of the world.  Laugh. 
Laughter is immeasurable.  Be joyful. 
Though you have considered all the facts…” 
Ask yourself: Will this satisfy  
a woman satisfied to bear a child? 
Will this disturb the sleep of a woman near to giving birth?”   

(Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front, Wendell Berry)  

As people of faith, we are put on notice by the very seasons and the creatures who respond to the wisdom that they hold, that our lives, our futures are ours to embrace, not in some ideal time, in some ideal place, but in the very now of our lives together.  As Berry would write, “Practice resurrection.” 

Don’t miss out on the opportunity to engage with the Season of Creation and participate in prayer with God’s Innovation on September 18 during the next Virtual Emmaus Discernment and Prayer Group. Together, we will give thanks for the beauty of God’s creation, delight in the wonder around us, and prayerfully remember how deeply connected we are to God, one another, and all creation. To register for the program, please click here.   

Single Catholic women are also warmly invited to join us October 2–4 for an in-person opportunity for prayer, reflection, and sisterhood. Together, we will explore what it means to be chosen and called by God to be courageous pioneers for our times, living humbly and praying courageously. To register for the free weekend retreat, please click here.  For more information about this program and other opportunities to pray and listen to God’s call, please visit https://oppeace.org//become-a-sister/ or reach out to Sister Ana Gonzalez, OP, at [email protected].