A Naperville Municipal Band concert, a Ribfest Fireworks display, an afternoon at Naperville Centennial Beach—summer is taken up with things to do. But now the corn is already tasseled and the evenings are perceptibly shorter. Schools are getting ready to start and our summer season is ending.
But before the “Last Fling” of summer, perhaps a trek on the Riverwalk or the Springbrook Prairie Forest Preserve paths would rejuvenate the soul. Before the fall schedules fill in our calendars, there might be time for a moment of contemplation if you make room for it. In our activity-filled lives, it is hard to justify simply being still for a time. So we translate mediation into something we have to do.
There was a day when social media was the porch. People came up on the front porch to “set a spell,” to talk, to enjoy an evening breeze, to simply be. It was a good time, but it wasn’t an innocent time. Everyone knew his or her place on the porch and some knew they had no place up there. Race and social status overpowered the human need for connection. We still struggle with inclusion, the grace to be together, coming to understand each other.
Still, this season of transition, from summer to fall, is the right time to get out and become right with the world. The spiritually healthy person finds time for what truly matters and acts with justice as a consequence.
Grace and Peace.
