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“On Turning”
This time of year, as the leaves slowly
change from shades of green to yellows, browns, and reds, is one of my
favorites. The visual evidence of change, of persistence of the cycles of
nature, is incontrovertible. We see the arrival of autumn, we hear the rustle of
dry leaves across the sidewalk and the parking lot, and we feel the weather cool
from the humidity and heat of the southern
Now is the time for turning.
The leaves are beginning to turn from green to red and orange.
The birds are beginning to turn and are heading once more toward the south.
The animals are beginning to turn to storing their food for the winter.
For leaves, birds, and animals, turning comes instinctively.
But for us, turning does not come so easily.
No, we humans do not always turn or change easily. We are sometimes resistant to change. It is inconvenient, or even difficult, for us. Change threatens us, does it not? “On Turning”suggests that part of the reason change is difficult is that it may mean “admitting that we have been wrong.”
So much of what we do is well-intentioned, honorable, and enriches the lives of those around us. Yet no one of us is perfect, and we each have more to learn. And as we learn, we are challenged to use that learning to renew ourselves. We are called to change. Perhaps I am called to become more loving while no less truthful, or more truthful, while no less loving. Perhaps you are called to give more generously, while ensuring your own needs, or to ensure your own needs more adequately, while giving no less generously. Perhaps another is called to act more boldly, while continuing to speak and consider so well, or to consider better, while acting with no less commitment.
Jack Riemer, a Jewish rabbi, wrote “On Turning” in the spirit of the Jewish high holy days. This period begins with Rosh Hashanah as the celebration of the new year and ends with Yom Kippur, the day of atonement. During that period of time, our Jewish friends engage in a serious reflection of their personal strengths and weaknesses, generating a sense of commitment to personal growth.
Yet that personal growth cannot be accomplished in isolation. To grow, we need the presence of others: others who can encourage us, who can model for us, and who can test us. In isolation, it is easy to claim that we have changed. It is in the actions we create and experience in community, that we can determine whether real change has taken place.
In the solemn beauty of autumn, in this season of change, let us take time to consider our lives, both as they are, and as we would have them be. And, in the spirit of the season, let us find the courage to change. For we have the marvelous human capacity to change, each one of us, and the changes we dare to undertake will guide us forward into deeper and more authentic lives.
Yours in the spirit of change, Bill S.
