October 2022

Dear Kind and Gentle People,

Last week we observed the autumnal equinox that heralds the official proclamation that the season of fall has arrived in all its glory. When you gaze at the mill pond, the reflection of the turning colored maple leaves over the water is truly breathtaking, especially reflecting in the windows of “The Mill.” Our pumpkins (in Maine we pronounce them “PUNGKIN”) are ready in the field. The cattle will have a feast and Petah will make pie!

Over 30 brightly colored ears of ornamental corn have been harvested and crafted into a magnificent wreath for my giant front door. I am reminded of the old chestnut, “Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem” by John Henry Maunder. We always nicknamed this piece “the laughing corn” as some of the text of Psalm 65 is gleefully inserted in the middle of the anthem. “The valleys stand so thick with corn that they laugh and sing.”

How often do we stop, or even slow down, long enough to pay some attention, not only to our gifts, not only to all we have and all we have to do, but also to the giver, to the source of it all? Are we so busy running, so busy using what we have, that we can see no farther? Are you able to stop everything and imagine a rich, deep valley celebrating a bumper crop of beautiful corn being bathed in the song of Gaia’s electromagnetic field and her Four Winds that are accompanied by the laughing and joyful gurgling of flowing water?

Sometimes we become so full of the blessings that we have received that there appears to be just no room for the giver, the source of the gift. We are not ungrateful, just busy. Just terribly busy! Are we so busy running, so busy using what we have, that we can see no farther? Sometimes the answer is yes.

During this season of fall, you are encouraged to acknowledge the source of all gifts and the helper in all challenges. Rather than being busy running with your blessings, slow down and enjoy the feast of your eyes upon ornamental corn, the taste of a yummy pumpkin pie, and of course the metaphorical joy of the singing and laughing of a deep rich valley, filled to overflowing with a bumper crop of corn.

Gobs of Blessings and Heaps of Happiness,

Petah

Rev. Dr. Peter Stickney