Autumn Hospitality

Some people welcome the coming of autumn (Sweater weather! Colorful leaves! S’mores!) and others dread it (Sweater weather! Raking leaves! The end of summer tomatoes!). As with everything, one’s attitude about the changing of the seasons depends on one’s perspective, but whether we love or hate pumpkins, yard cleanup, and the end of daylight savings time, there’s nothing we can do to delay the coming of autumn. St. Benedict would counsel those who are reluctant to let go of summer not to grumble about it (“Above all else we admonish them to refrain from grumbling,” Rule of Benedict, 40:9), and he prudently adjusted the community’s times of prayer, work, and meals to match the rhythm and demands of the seasons.

Perhaps one aspect of autumn we can all embrace is its invitation to slow down. In summer when we mow the lawn, pull weeds, or water the garden, we know we’ll have to do it again in a few days. On the other hand, after we do yard cleanup and put the garden to bed in mid to late October, our work is done until spring. Ahhh! More time to read, to nap, to relax! The chillier weather invites us to linger over coffee or hot chocolate, and brilliant foliage encourages us to put aside our work and go for a walk or a ride to enjoy the leaves while they last.

Although our lives have changed drastically from those of our agrarian ancestors (just having access to light at all times because of the wonder of electricity is a game changer), our DNA still carries vestiges of their wisdom. Our bodies still sense the effects of less light during the day in fall and winter, and we would do well to listen to the urge to go to bed earlier. It’s okay to give in to the urge to “nest,” to prepare for cold weather by making and freezing soups and casseroles and stocking up on ice melt.

Fr. Ed Hays welcomed autumn with these words: “Come, autumn, enter my home with your golden wisdom; be my guest and share my table. Teach me to take stock of what I have given and received; may I know that it’s enough, that my striving can cease in the abundance of God’s grace.” Those of us who follow the teachings of St. Benedict can recognize this call to offer hospitality not just to other people but to the seasons of the earth as well.