Then October Comes . . .

 . . . and it becomes clearer and clearer that it is ending.
While September may sometimes taunt and beguile us with the empty promise of continued summer (as this year's September has done,) then October comes and we realize that it truly is ending.
October comes and the darkness increases.
October comes and the leaves display their momentary splendor, than fade and fade away.
October comes and one day we are searching for those warmer outfits.
October confronts us with reality.
It is ending.
Summer is ended and the year itself is ending.
October comes and forces us to face the reality of endings.
I was recently reminded of that while reading a poem in a current America Magazine.
The poem is by Terry Savoie and the lines that pointed me in the direction of October's lessons read:

Into their once full garden that's now

close to barren, two ancient nuns shuffle

along looking for a few late autumn blossoms

to paint their lives. Covered in grey habits

& (winter) coats, they're two of nine

lastlings living out their remaining days

in a convent that once housed dozens.

Two of nine lastlings!

Word came recently that the Dominican presence at Oxford, Michigan was coming to an end. The motherhouse and retreat center there would soon be closed. Reality had to be faced. In a building meant to accommodate 43, now only 13 remained. Lastlings!

There was a time when the Oxford community numbered - what? Hundreds? They staffed parish school in Slovak communities in Detroit and when our ancestors moved into the suburbs, the Dominicans followed. Their ministries responded to new needs and exciting possibilities.

For over fifty years on weekend after weekend retreatants came to the place of prayer and renewal of spirit.

Novices, bringing new hope and life, frolicked in the wide open fields of Oxford.

Parishes flocked to Oxford on Springtime Sundays and Autumn Sundays as well for pilgrimages and festivals. By busloads they came. It was a place filled with life and music and laughter. We sang there songs of faith and songs of Fatherland. Slovakia!

But now October comes.

And endings!

And the memories and tears that endings can bring.

But October reminds us the endings must come.

And they will come.

And they do come.

New days cannot begin unless old days end.

New Years cannot begin unless old years end.

And new life cannot begin unless the old life ends.

And so October comes!

And with it time to say, "Goodbye!"

Never Forget!

Every year, right around this time of the year, we begin hearing those words again, "Never Forget." And, of course, they are pointing us annually in the direction of September 11 and especially 2001.
Never Forget!
And with those words we see the images all so familiar - the Towers, the smoke, the twisted metal and mountains of debris.
Never Forget!
But for the past couple of years my mind began to wrap around the question, "Never forget what?" Or maybe the question should be, "Never forget! Why?"
What is it really that we are suggesting we should Never Forget?
And why should we Never Forget?
Those who lived through that time in our history hold sharp memories of the events. And they are often painful memories.
Never Forget!
Does that somehow imply that we should hold onto those painful memories and never move on?
Is that ever even healthy?
Keep reopening the wounds?
Renewing the hurts?
If that is what is implied by "Never Forget," then I would say that it is time to move on. We must move on. We cannot and should not hold onto the pain and keep reopening old wounds.
Never Forget, though, can and should mean more, so much more than embracing yesterday's pain.
Never Forget the heroism of those brave men and women who risked and all too often even lost their lives for the sake of others. Never Forget that because that shows us in a real way what Jesus meant when He said, "Greater love than this has no one that to lay down their life for another."
No, Never Forget that!
Hold on to the lesson that is important to think of others and work for others and sacrifice for others - even when those others may be strangers to us.
Never Forget!
In those days we came together as a people. We were able to rise above those things that can tend to divide us. Politics aside; status put aside; Black/White/Any shade in between did not matter. We were one people and we found the strength that comes from unity - from being able to rise above those things that seek to divide us. We were better than all that and that made us a strong and beautiful people.
Never forget that! The wonder that comes from unity.
And Never Forget!
On that morning we saw the ugliness and pain and tears that can be caused when a handful of people, egged on by a preacher of hate can bring about upon so many. A small group, filled with hate, made so much so ugly.
Hate has the power to do that.
Never forget that lesson - especially when any preacher of hate emerges on the scene.
Never Forget the power of hate.
And also Never Forget that unity and sacrifice are still more powerful.
Never Forget who we should be and how we should be.
That is what, I believe,  we should Never Forget!