Speaking of Bookbags,

as T.S. O'Rama is doing over at Video meliora, proboque; Deteriora sequor, I have finished Truth and Tolerance by (then) Cardinal Ratzinger. And I'm almost through The Christian and Anxiety by Hans Urs von Balthasar. The latter is heavy going, especially the last section, which is a metaphysical analysis of anxiety. Even re-reading passages doesn't get me much further forward. Too bad I slid through that class in Metaphysics thirty-some years ago.

Autumn

What is it about this season that so lifts me up? It is a season of fading and dying and going away. And yet this is the season I enjoy the most. We don't get much of a Fall here compared to back East. But this has been a pleasant one nonetheless.

The colours are the obvious attraction: greens give way to yellows, browns, oranges, reds, and, yes, even some near-maroons. They're mostly lawn carpeting now, though a few trees stubbornly hold on after the winds of a couple of weeks ago and the recent heavy rains. There are, of course, biological and chemical reasons for these changes. But what are God's reasons? Why such beautiful display before the sleep of winter? That's something to ponder.

From childhood I remember the excitement of a new school year starting; and a new NFL season (go Chargers!). Now in Canada it's the beginning of hockey (I can breathe again). So Fall is also a season of beginnings. The Yin to Spring's Yang. Some things only properly begin at the end of the year, it seems.

So with thoughts of retirement and new beginnings, I ponder the meaning of Autumn.