My spiritual director gave me this lovely poem today. Autumn is my favorite season and the poem is so appropriate.

Autumn: The Sacrament of Letting Go                                  

 ~ Seasons of the Heart, Marcina Wiederkehr, OSB

Slowly

she celebrated the sacrament of letting go

first she surrendered her green

then orange, yellow and red

finally she let go of her brown

shedding her last leaf

she stood empty and silent, stripped bare.

Leaning against the winter sky

She began her vigil of trust.

And Jesus said:

And why worry about clothing? Think of the flowers

                                    Growing in the fields; they neither have to work

Or spin; yet I assure you not even Solomon in all his

Regalia was robed like one of these.

Shedding her last leaf

she watched its journey to the ground.

She stood in silence

wearing the color of emptiness,

her branches wondering:

how do you give…