SEPTEMBER SIGHS

September, for me, is my summer swan song.

Even though the heat index changes little, I am surrounded by change.

Our local farmer closes the doors to their ever-fresh fruits and veggies.

Parents wait at main street curbside for the school bus to deposit their children.

U-haul vans are rented by the dozens on or before Labor Day weekend to transport college students to thousands of schools across the country.

Art fairs pop up more often as Summer changes in to Fall.

Our very rainy summer has not transitioned into ‘dry’ yet.

In fact, the last day of last month we had such a huge deluge that we had a difficult time finding entrance into our sweet small town.

We live on a hill so our home is fine.  

However, getting to it after being caught in the drenching downpour was our greatest challenge.

All in all, I will miss the heat and humidity and the constant rain we had this year knowing that summer is turning to fall.

Yet, I always have thoughts and quotes and pithy sayings to share.

So, I continue to sally forth with September’s summer swan songs.

September 1      Words for every woman: We are woman of Worth.  We have eyes to see, ears to hear, mouths to pray, hands to create and feet to dance.  We can choose to be paralyzed by worries about tomorrow or live today, free to be who we are and celebrate life in the “present-ness” of God.

9-2  “In her voyage across the ocean of this world, the Church is like a great ship being pounded by the waves of life's different stresses. Our duty is not to abandon ship but to keep her on her course.”   Boniface

9-3  “If you are what you should be, you will set the whole world ablaze!"  Catherine of Siena

9-4  “This is the very perfection of a man, to find out his own imperfections."  Augustine

9-5  “Remember that when you leave this earth, you can take with you nothing that you have received only what you have given: a full heart enriched by honest service, love, sacrifice and courage.” Francis of Assisi

9-6  “Just as in one man there is one soul and one body, yet many members; even so the catholic (universal) church is one body, having many members. The soul that quickens this body is the Holy Spirit; and therefore in the Creed after confessing our belief in the Holy Spirit, we are bid to believe in One holy catholic church.” Thomas Aquinas

9-7  “Let your old age be childlike, and your childhood be like old age; that is, so that neither may your wisdom be with pride, nor your humility be without wisdom." Augustine

9-8  “If you learn everything except Christ, you learn nothing. If you learn nothing except Christ, you learn everything.”  Bonaventure

9-9  “I do not seek to understand in order that I may believe, but rather, I believe in order that I may understand.”  Anselm of Canterbury

9-10  Rosh Hashanah  

Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (1891–1942) was born as Edith Stein in Prussia, the youngest of eleven children from a devout Jewish family. She was a bright and gifted child, and as she matured she became an atheist. She went on to receive a doctorate in philosophy, studying under the famous philosophers Heidegger and Husserl. 

Despite her atheism, she was affected by several friends

who displayed a great passion for the Christian faith. 

One day, while staying at a friend's home, she saw the autobiography of Teresa of Avila. She read it from cover to cover, and after finishing it she exclaimed, "This is the Truth." 

Edith was baptized in Cologne, Germany in 1922. From there she taught for a time at a Dominican school and studied Thomas Aquinas and other Christian philosophers. 

When the rise of anti-semitism forced her to resign from a teaching post, she wrote to Pope Pius XI asking him to publicly denounce the Nazis. Discerning a call to the religious life, she became a Carmelite nun in Cologne 1934, taking the name Teresa Benedicta of the Cross after her special devotion to the Cross of Christ. 

When the Nazi threat grew in Germany, her Order transferred her to a convent in the Netherlands for safety. There Edith grew in her desire to offer her life for the salvation of souls. 

The Nazis eventually came for her, and she, along with her sister Rose, who was also a convert, were sent to the Nazi concentration camp in Auschwitz. They were both killed in the gas chamber. 

9-11  [It has been 17 years since the day of destruction by Islamic terrorists.  This will always be a day of remembrance of the thousands of lives lost that day and lives that continue to be lost due to the toxins ingested that day by brave men and women.  Physicians have a motto they live by, "Do no harm."  We all have a motto to live by . . . THE GOLDEN RULE}
"Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you.   This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets." (Matthew 7:12)

9-12  Otium Sanctum: Holy Leisure . . . refers to a sense of balance in life.

An ability to: 
be at peace through the activities of the day, rest and take time to enjoy beauty, 
pace ourselves.

9-13   The awe of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of holiness is prudence. Proverbs 9:10

9-14  ATTITUDE is the difference between an ordeal and an adventure.

9-15  The most destructive habit is worry; 

The greatest JOY is giving; 

The greatest loss is loss of self-respect; 

The most satisfying work is helping others; 

The ugliest personality trait is selfishness;

The most endangered species is dedicated leaders; 

Our greatest natural resource is our youth; 

The greatest shot in the arm is encouragement; 

The greatest problem to overcome is fear; 

The most effective sleeping pill is peace of mind; 

The most crippling failure disease is excuses; 

The most powerful force in life is love;  

The most dangerous pariah is a gossiper; 

The world’s most incredible computer is the brain; 

The worst thing to be without is hope; 

The deadliest weapon is the tongue; 

The two most power-filled words are “I can”; 

The greatest asset is faith; 

The most worthless emotion is self pity;

The most beautiful attire is a smile; 

The most prized possession is integrity; 

The most powerful channel of communication is prayer; 

The most contagious spirit is enthusiasm.

9-16  For thou didst form my inward parts, thou didst

knit me together in my mother’s womb. . . . My frame was not hidden from thee, when I was being made in secret, intricately wrought in the depths of the earth.  Psalm 139:13,15

9-17  “Start by doing what is necessary; then do what is possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.”  Francis of Assisi

9-18  “Perfection is not attainable. But if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence." Coach Vince Lombardi

Yom Kippur begins this evening and lasts for 25 hours.  This is the highest Holy Day of the year begins with FASTING of food AND water [traditionally] in which the faithful Jews take time to repent of sins and begin afresh for the New Year. The fast is broken with light fare the evening of the 19th so as not to stress the body.  Many may take a partial fast due to age and/or health reasons.  However, the most important element of these 25 hours is prayer and repentance so that one begins the new year with a 'clean soul.'

9-19  “A sculptor who wishes to carve a figure out of a block uses his chisel, first cutting away great chunks of marble, then smaller pieces, until he finally reaches a point where only a brush of hand is needed to reveal the figure. 

In the same way, the soul has to undergo tremendous mortifications at first, and then more refined detachments, until finally its Divine image is revealed . . . 

When we die to something, something comes alive within us. 

If we die to self, charity comes alive; if we die to pride, service comes alive; if we die to lust, reverence for personality comes alive; if we die to anger, love comes alive.”     Fulton J. Sheen,  “Peace of the Soul.”

9-20  "The ordinary arts we practice every day at home are of more importance to the soul than their simplicity might suggest."  Thomas Moore

9-21  “To watch over mouth and tongue is to keep out of trouble.”  Proverbs 21:23

9-22 “To convert somebody, go and take them by the hand and guide them.” Thomas Aquinas

9-23  A prayer upon waking: 

This is another day, O Lord. 

I know not what it will bring forth; but make me ready, Lord, for whatever it may be. 

If I am to stand up, help me to stand bravely.  

If I am to sit still, help me to sit quietly. 

If I am to lie low, help me to do it patiently.  

And if I am to do nothing, let me do it gallantly.  

Make these words more than words, and give me the Sprit of Jesus.  Amen. 

 [Anglican/Episcopal Book of Common Prayer  p. 461]

9-24  “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”  Jeremiah 1:5

9-25    I asked for strength, God gave me difficulties.

I asked for Wisdom , God gave me problems to solve.

I asked for prosperity, God gave me a brain and brawn to work.

I asked for love, God gave me troubled people to help.

I asked for favors, God gave me opportunities.

I received nothing I wanted, 

I received everything I needed.    

9-26  The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?  The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?   Psalm 27:1

9-27  “Worrying does not empty tomorrow of its trouble. It empties today of its strength." 
[My step-sister died today.  Cause is yet unknown.  She just did not wake up.  My soul weeps yet I know she is now with the Lord and her husband.]

9-28  Regarding the verbal lynching of Judge Bret Kavenaugh, we've forgotten these words in Ephesians 4:1-3:  "I, a prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."

9-29   THE DIFFERENCE

I got up early one morning and rushed right into the day; I had so much to accomplish that I didn’t have time to pray.

Problems just tumbled about me and heavier came each task;  “Why doesn’t God help me?”  I wondered.   

    He said, “But you didn’t ask.”

I wanted to see joy and beauty but the day toiled on, gray and bleak; I wondered why God didn’t show me.   

    He said, “But you didn’t seek.”

I tried to come into God’s presence;  I used all my keys at the lock.

      God gently and lovingly chided “My child, you didn’t knock.”

I woke up early this morning And paused before entering the day.

I had so much to accomplish that I had to take time to

pray.

9-30  Christianity has died many times and risen again; for it has a God who knows the way out of the grave.  

G.K. Chesterton