Sun. Sep. 30, 2012 (Connie Siedler)

On September 30th, Connie Siedler presented the fourth and final meditation on the year's seasons and how they might be seen as reflecting aspects of our spiritual life. Strangely, many (well, those who forget about November) think of fall as their favourite season of the year. They remember that early fall is still warm without being sweltering, they admire its colours and think of fall as a season for concluding things, especially gardens. Esther 7 (lectionary reading) tells of the beautiful Jewish queen saving her people from Haman's evil order that all the Jews be killed. She and her maidens prepared for her unannounced and dangerous the visit to the king by fasting and praying for days. Their sowing/fasting/praying bore fruit. When reflecting on how we can store our spiritual harvests, Connie told of the 'encouragement box' in which she saves all the notes of encouragement she receives over the years. Then when facing a 'winter' in her life, she can turn to her encouragement box for sustenance. Finally, Connie reminded us that scripture frequently mentions giving thanks, and encourages us to give thanks. This is a form part of our national celebration of fall, and it should also become a continual part of our thinking and living. [JEK]

Listen to the sermon audio MP3 recording from Sunday, September 30th, 2012 using your browser's preferred media player.