Uh oh,” I said. “What, Momma?” my 3-year-old daughter asked. “That tree is turning red. It thinks summer is over.” As soon as the words left my mouth, I realized my mistake. “Look at that beautiful patch of red leaves,” I wish I’d said. “We’ve had the gift of summer, and now we’ll get to see the fall.”
When we look upon the present with gratitude, we enter the future with hope and generosity.
Holy time affords us the opportunity to learn from each passing moment. Maybe I didn’t say or do exactly the thing I wish I had. Maybe I have not yet fully acted with justice and love, in all the ways I have been called. Hope is not lost. The future is not written. Now is the moment to act. The choices we make today have the power to shape what’s ahead.
This message is an excerpt from “The shape of what’s to come” by Sarah Carson in the November 2020 issue of Gather magazine. Today we remember Gregory the Great, bishop of Rome, who died in 604.
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