“Autumn shows us how beautiful it is to let things go.”
~Author Unknown

This is a quote I see from time to time on social media, and I appreciate the sentiment.  We could find fall to be a bit depressing as everything around us seems to be, well, falling apart.  We worry about the first frost and what to do with plants.  When is an acceptable time to turn on the heat?  (Which, as an aside, is something I never heard growing up in the Midwest, but it seems to be a competition with you hearty New Englanders to go as long as possible without giving in!  I gave in this week and turned on the heat at the parsonage one day, and I don’t feel bad about that one bit.)  Anyway, fall is a time of transition.  Moving away from the summer heat and into the winter that is to come.  Fall does have some lessons to teach us, about how beautiful it is to let things go. 

What do you need to let go of? 
It could be unmet expectations that are doing you (or another person) no good.
It could be anger about a situation that is eating away at you.
Or even letting go of a toxic person from your life.  Or putting up some healthy boundaries for your sake and for theirs. 
It could be letting go of worries about the future when the present is where you are being called to stay. 

Jesus told us in the Gospel according to John, “I came so that they could have life—indeed, so that they could live life to the fullest.” (John 10:10)  Jesus came to love and liberate and bind up the broken hearted.  What might you need to let go of in order to embrace this path of liberation and living life to the fullest? 
Just something to ponder this week as we watch the leaves let go and fall to the earth.

Love,
Pastor Lauren

Photo by Rev. Lauren Lorincz

Thursday Thoughts 10/21/21