September 10th is lovely with a hint of fall in the air. Our DuQuoin State Fair has come and gone for another year. Labor Day passed us by and we waved goodbye as it strode on to 2023. The Maine trip that we have planned for most of the past year…begins very soon.

Halloween is fast becoming one of my favorite holidays. I was born just a week before its arrival. The old horror and monster movies of my youth and before…captivate my attention in October. I enjoy Pumpkin Spice Coffee and have even grown an affinity for Pumpkin Pie…which I did not care for as a youth. The rhythms of life become a bit more contemplative in the fall. We seem to have time to gaze at ourselves in the mirror and learn from the reflection that stares back at us.

The drama we are dedicated to. We are excited and happy and sad and angry and afraid…by the simplest things. We need breathing space and the certainty that our life is enjoyed and negotiated and lived…one step at a time. Modern times are somewhat of a sugar rush. We all have seen children that have had too much candy and soda pop…and at the fair…too much cotton candy. These are all pleasures and special treats…but they are not meant to be consumed all day… every day. The Herculean High is what we crave. The Aesop Fable of the Tortoise and the Hare taught us that…slow and steady wins the race.

Old Time Religion understood that we experience mountain tops in our lives…and we often are walking through the valley. I have experienced managers and administrators during my career that felt the best management model was to gin up strife and contention among their colleagues. I have been around ministers that thought the same.

Patience is autumn as it settles over our land and our sense of place. Nature slows down and tells the human family to do the same. A tremendous lesson that Queen Elizabeth taught us was to be a calming and loving presence among the families of the earth.