9-16-24<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Daylight Savings Time is about to end, and I never have been able to figure out whether to be grateful or regretful \u2013 you know, \u201cgaining\u201d or losing an hour of sleep. Just go to sleep, like my mother used to say. It\u2019s like the \u201cglass half-empty vs half-full\u201d discussions. Just drink it, or re-fill it, and be quiet. Well, there are many things I don\u2019t understand. Autumn is the only season, at least in the English language, that has more than one name. Among its traditional names was Harvest \u2013 before urban living made that concept somewhat abstract. Then there is the familiar Fall whose origin philologists have not been able to trace, but there is the obvious association with \u201cfallen leaves.\u201d If we might feel overshadowed by vague signs of dying and death, however, don\u2019t blame it all on nature. In a larger sense, humankind \u2013 the post-Christian West especially \u2013 is at a point where we choose Death at almost every opportunity. In many way we live in a Culture of Death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes, there have always been wars and rumors of wars\u2026 but today they are deadlier than ever, a fact that encourages rather than deters the war parties running governments. A Culture of Death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We have developed new scientific means to extend life and confront diseases\u2026 but today, Science also aggressively pursues ways to end lives. A vast majority of birth \u201cdefects\u201d are \u201cterminated\u201d \u2013 that is to say, babies are killed. A majority of unwed mothers arrange for their babies to be killed \u2013 something that politicians call \u201chealth care.\u201d A Culture of Death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The various surgical and \u201cpsychological\u201d imperatives toward lower birth rates, \u201ctransgender\u201d advocacy, homosexual relationships, genital mutilation \u2013 even denying parental notifications and obligating taxpayers to support \u2013 resist procreation and the furtherance of life. A Culture of Death. And people feel depressed by Signs of Death that accompany the return of Autumn? What an insult, if I may say, to Mother Nature and (properly) Father God. Maybe that \u201cglass half-empty or half-full\u201d metaphor has resonance after all. Maybe Harvest-Autumn-Fall is entirely different than many people are wont to perceive. And if trees go bare, and crops are harvested, and things superficially look bleak\u2026 we cannot forget that many things go dormant, but do not die. Seeds will sprout, even through cracks in cement. Flowers will bloom in deserts and other unexpected places. Woodland animals are born, blink, and open their eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Landscapes are resplendent with color. \u201cDead\u201d wildflowers and Indian corn grace our homes. Seashells and periwinkles, so unique and colorful, are, after all, virtual external skeletons and husks of dead life; but beautiful. The sun, they tell us, is dying\u2026 but it gives life and warmth. My go-to source of wise comments (after the Bible), many of you know, is Theodore Roosevelt. On these subjects he once wrote, \u201cBoth life and death are part of the Great Adventure,\u201d and it surely is so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Finally let us remember, always remember, the One who tasted death… yet overcame it. Jesus died, so that our souls escape eternity in hell where there is no life. We, like our Savior, can overcome sin, death, and the grave, and know eternal life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A Culture of Life!
I do know that Autumn, that imminent change of season, traditionally has been regarded in poetry and art as the gloomiest of the four seasons. It seems odd, but among the testimonies of not regarding cold, dead Winter as gloomy (a host of happy outdoor activities and holidays have already sprung to your mind) is the long narrative poem by John Greenleaf Whittier, Snowbound<\/em>. A 19th-century family is stuck in the house after a tremendous blizzard, and possible feelings of dread or fear are replaced by bonding, reminiscences, humor. Outside, all is frozen and every living thing looks dead, but warmth and life glow in the family circle. Winter = not so bad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As I say, and despite the warm associations we might have with colorful leaves and familiar smells in the air, in literature and art Fall is often the basis of melancholia. Some psychologists say that Fall outpaces Winter as the season of peoples\u2019 dark depression. Perhaps, after sunny and bright summertime, the palpable signs of death surround us. Dying and falling leaves. Bare trees. Wilted flower-beds. Field animals looking for shelter. Earlier dusk and darkness descends. Colder air drives us indoors.
The <\/em>adagio from Antonio Vivaldi\u2019s \u201c<\/em>Autumn<\/strong><\/em><\/a>\u201d in his iconic concerti grossi <\/em>The Four Seasons is beautiful \u2013 but covers us in a sad, melancholy cloak.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
The most obvious contemporary versions of human sacrifice and infanticide \u2013 the American spin on practices we condemn in ancient societies and pagan tribes \u2013 are \u201cmercy killings\u201d and, of course, abortion. Now I myself once was quite inured to the concept and practice; I viewed abortion as a calendar-skewed version of birth control. I now feel like I have blood on my hands. So you can jump on my \u201cconversion,\u201d but don\u2019t jump ugly; many of us have seen the light. Along my personal Road to Damascus, I scored one of the rare interviews with the lady who was \u201cRoe\u201d of Roe vs Wade\u2026<\/em> and who became bitterly regretful about her role. Beyond that, I cannot understand those who endlessly bemoan the accounts Jews deemed \u201cinconvenient\u201d by Nazis, yet are quite comfortable with 63.5-million \u201cinconvenient\u201d babies killed since Roe<\/em>. A Culture of Death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rejoice! Leaves die, but before they happily flutter among us, they clothe themselves with brilliant reds and yellows and orange colors that painters can hardly capture. The aromas of Autumn are unique, almost romantic. (I hope your neighborhoods still allow the burning of raked leaves.) Yes\u2026 harvests! Vegetables and fruits that were nurtured through the Summer can now be enjoyed \u2013 different colors and flavors associated only with Fall. Crisp air? Invigorating; time to huddle and cuddle; and to experience a new <\/em>aspect of nature\u2026 not a dying one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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