There is something quite beautiful about the autumn season, which begins today (in our northern hemisphere). The poem that I share here, by Wendell Berry, reflects on this beauty. It is a beauty that he describes as “the showing forth of the heavenly love that is the being of the present world.” May this autumn season, with its stunning colors and beauty, remind us of the One who created it.

Opening Prayer

To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. In you, O God, I place my trust. Help me now to quiet myself and listen, that the thoughts and prayers of my heart might be pleasing to you. Amen

Psalm 145:10-16

All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord,
  and all your faithful shall bless you.
They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom,
  and tell of your power,
  to make known to all people your mighty deeds,
  and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
  and your dominion endures throughout all generations.
The Lord is faithful in all his words,
  and gracious in all his deeds.
The Lord upholds all who are falling,
  and raises up all who are bowed down.
The eyes of all look to you,
  and you give them their food in due season.
You open your hand,
  satisfying the desire of every living thing.

Scripture Readings

Then God said, “Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.” And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed of every kind, and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God saw that it was good. – Genesis 1:11-12

All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. – John 1:3-4

Devotional Poem: “Again the Air Is Full” by Wendell Berry 

Again the air is full
of falling: the fall of the leaves
in the weighty season that bring
all home again to the lowly
miracle from which they came.

Nature, the mother and maker,
requires that life take form,
enflesh itself in the shapes
and habits of the world’s unnumbered
kinds. And then she requires
each one at last to shed
its guise, giving up
its matter to the life to come.

Think of a world of no fall
no gravity calling downward,
homeward, bringing all
by the light uprisen down
to rest in the resting land
– a world, instead, where all
that dies would fly upward
and outward, nameless and alone.
How sterile then would be
the earth, seasonless the year.
. . .
The year is the showing forth
of the heavenly love that is
the being of the present world.
The leaves, opening and at last
falling, hold a while
the beauty of God who made them
by the work and care of Nature,
His vicar and our mother.
His only is the light
of which all things are made,
the beauty that they are,
the delight that is our prayer.

Closing Prayer

All your works praise you, O Lord, and show forth your heavenly love. May the beauty of this season remind us of the beauty of your love, and may we always be willing to share this love with the world around us. In Jesus’ name. Amen

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Wendell Berry’s poem can be found in A Small Porch available on Amazon here.