Sunday Sermonizing: Allhallowtide Is My Season of Reflection and Motivation
This may seem weird.
I’m happy my birthday falls on All Saints Day.
El Dio de Muerte.
All-Hallows Day.
Samhain.
Hallowmas.
I like that my birthday is associated with death.
It makes for better reflection as I get older.
Most folks do their reflecting and resoluting on January 1st.
My reflective time of the year is Allhallowtide, which is my birthday season.
Random reflection for the sake of reflection (i.e. living in the past) isn’t the best habit. It’s a practice that can easily turn into a morbid source of negativity and a lot of navel-gazing. I never recommend mere reflection on your own umbilicus.
Healthy reflection always leads to generous motivation.
That’s what this season is about for me.
We must not forget the limited number of our spins around the sun.
I wrote earlier this week about Psalm 90:12:
"So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom."
(The KJV translation of this is my favorite.)
I had this very conversation with a colleague earlier this week. We laughed about our mutual taphophilia and candid discussions of death.
For me, this is simply something we need to get our heads around. Not for the sake of more urgency or hurry. We have enough of that. I will never a fan of rushing around.
But reflection that leads to action and direction-change is a powerful way to become everything you were meant to be. Remembering that life is a vapor reminds me to work well at leaving my brush stroke on the timeless masterpiece of which we are a part.
There is purpose.
There is intention.
And while I don’t always understand the grand scope and scheme of things, I do want to play my part.
