It was brought to my attention the other evening that it was the fall equinox. Normally, I pay attention when a new season begins but for some reason this year, autumn didn’t register in my consciousness until my friend mentioned it.

Actually, it turns out that officially the autumnal equinox was yesterday, 09/22 at 5:18 PM (EDT). The equinox is one of two times a year when the Sun crosses the equator, and the day and night are of approximately equal length.

I’ve been thinking about why this time around I was not mindful of the change in seasons, and what does this new season mean to me this year.

“Fall” is about down, about ending. One thing that’s ending is summer – here in Gilbert, that’s a blessing! We don’t usually think of “down” as a blessing – but we could. Perhaps it’s because it’s still pretty hot here and I never expected us to still be living in Gilbert when the fall came, that I lost track of the seasons.

“Autumn” we borrowed from the Latin autumnus ‘the harvest time of plenty.’ We’re excited that the heat is ending – there’s a lot ending these days. Transformation is in the air. And with it, a bountiful harvest.

While fall is usually about moving towards hibernating in winter, we feel a great and wonderful expectancy, in a way as if it were spring, the season for rebirth. There is a New World coming, one filled with more and more community and true meaning in life. One where our life is not focused on and attempting to glean meaning from accumulating money and material things. Rather, we’re quickly moving into the space where our life is focused on love, peace, and joy in our relationships with humans, plants, and animals. This ex-atheist sees it as a time of walking even more and more with Spirit.

A song by Nina Simone comes to mind. Although I was first introduced to it back in the early 70’s, it feels like it was written for these times.

New World Coming by Nina Simone (excerpt)

There’s a new world coming
And it’s just around the bend
There’s a new world coming
This one’s coming to an end

Yes a new world’s coming
The one we’ve had visions of
Coming in peace, coming in joy
Coming in love.

These are exciting times – Happy Autumn!