A Month of Beginnings and Ends

September.  It's already September.  And here I am, pondering the beauty of beginnings and ends - the tail end of summer, with all its warmth and long days coming to a close, the beginning of fall starting to send inklings of its arrival through the trees whose leaves have already begun changing colour.

Yes, it is indeed the dawn of a new season - in each of our lives, and especially in my own.

I often ask myself the question: Where do I go from here?  And the answer isn't always clear.  Sometimes, it requires a bit of discernment to know where God wants me to be.  Yes, there's that somewhat "infamous" word: discernment.  But it shouldn't have to be disquieting to any of us.  In truth, it should be an invitation to us - an invitation to open ourselves up to exploring the good and wholesome possibilities that God has in store for us.

Discernment is a matter of being open - it requires humility and perseverance.  Humility, in being open to plans and ideas other than our own, and perseverance, in that God isn't necessarily going to make immediately apparent to us what is the best choice.

And that's exactly what it was like for me this summer.  I suffered a lot, having not taken care of my mental health at all - yes, I did indeed suffer as a consequence of that.  I have realized just how important it is to truly and properly take care of myself.  It doesn't mean being selfish, or always getting what I desire, but rather... it means attending to your own needs in so far as it is the duty of the moment.  What do I mean by that?

I mean that doing the duty of the moment is the best possible thing for us.  I would actually challenge ourselves to deepen our understanding of this practice by saying that it is not merely the "duty of the moment", but the "sacrament of the moment" - in a certain sense.  Why do I say such a thing?  Well, what is a sacrament?  As Catholics understand it, a sacrament is literally a sign which points us towards us towards something else, namely God Himself.  And isn't that what happens when we are doing the "duty of the moment", serving God as He as asked us to do?

Back to my earlier point... (yes, it's still related - I promise).  Now, as I had mentioned earlier, God does not always make it apparent to us what we are asked to do - He often, if not always (except for some extraordinary circumstances perhaps) invites us into the beauty of discerning.  Yes, it is hard at times.  Yes, it is not always clear what we are called to do.  And yet, that is precisely what discernment is supposed to help us with.  Through going to prayer, receiving direction from mentors, and simply by weighing and considering the options, we are actually already practicing discernment.

And that's the beauty of this new season.  There are (and will be) many ups and downs, many highs and lows in this new season, and many changes.  And yet, in spite of all this, our greatest aid in this season of life is the gift of discernment.  Yes, it takes time to discern.  Yes, takes time to weigh all our options.  But when we allow ourselves to be guided by the Holy Spirit, He will (within His own time) inspire us to choose the best possible good.  And, in the midst of all the changes, it is most important to stay grounded in the Eucharist, and in the Mystical Body of Christ, which we are all members of.

So, in this month of beginnings of ends, let us all embrace the aid of discernment, the blessings and graces of the many small "sacrament of the moment" opportunities, and the Real Presence in the Eucharist.