Harvest Season and the Harvest Within

Autumn is truly here.  It is my first as Worship Chair at UU and my first creating earth-centered celebrations appropriate for a UU group instead of wiccan.  It is a challenge, but a good one.

Working on this program has led me to think a lot about the deeper meanings of the harvest.  Usually, we look at the simple understanding - harvest of the crops.  We happily gather with our baskets of corn and apples, drinking grape juice or wine.  We might even share stories about the sacrifice of various grain deities.  But how often do we talk about personal sacrifice or harvesting things within our lives that we have planted - good or bad?

At the Summer Solstice I spoke to my congregation about working on those seeds we had planted in our lives during the spring. I watched people's faces as realization dawned that I was describing exactly what was going on in their lives. So many didn't see the connection before.  We wrote on slips of paper what we were working on specifically to harvest this fall. Some burned their papers without much thought, but there were some, more than I had expected, that paused and really thought about what they were doing.  I was very proud of them, and still am.

Another aspect of the Harvest season that we often overlook, many because they don't want to face it, is that of letting go of things that no longer serve us.  The simple truth is there comes a time when many things aren't good for us.  It many no longer be beneficial to the person we have become or it may have changed so that it is no longer the good thing it originally was.  Regardless of the reason, it is time to walk away. I had to make that decision a few months ago.  It was so very difficult.  It is hard to accept that something we loved has become toxic.  I admit, I had seen the signs for some time.  I was simply reluctant to let go.  Eventually the situation changed from being simply toxic to one that was poisoning myself and several people dear to me.  I finally had to step away.

When we experience this type of situation, what matters most is how we deal when we walk.  It is so feelings.  Go ahead.  Scream, cry, go through all those alternative ways it could have ended.  What's important is that you finally let out all those emotions and the true feelings you are not dealing with.  It is so easy to stay wrapped up in anger or hurt.  We can carry it around, never letting go, continually thinking about how badly the situation ended. The resentment can lead us to carrying anger inside that slowly eats us up.  All this is doing is letting the toxicity continue to destroy us.  This is a choice, therefore we can choose to finally let it go.  Take a couple hours you will be free from distraction and sit down to deal with the

In the end, this is the time to let go of things that have run their course.  If it was a good situation, give thanks for all the good times and be grateful for the smile you have left from the experience.  If it's something you had to let go of because it no longer serves you, figure out what you have learned from the time you spent.  No matter how bad something is, you can find something good.  The bad serves as a lesson if you will allow it.  Whether good or bad, release it with love for that is showing love to yourself.  In the end, loving ourself in a healthy way is one of the most important things we can do.