“For my part I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream.” Vincent Van Gogh
August is here. Half way between summer solstice and the autumn equinox. This is my favorite time of year. Beneath the slow heat and laziness of August, I sense the stirrings of autumn. There is a coolness under the breeze in the early morning and at twilight - reminding us that soon we will need to fill our cellars. Yet, we are still tending to the summer crops, hoping for the tomatoes to redden and the corn to get taller. We do this knowing that change is coming.
It is faith I speak of, that I feel. Faith that despite this strange year, and all the fears that rush over me in the wee hours, faith that the stars will once again ignite my dreams, and the tomatoes will ripen and the corn will reach for the sky. I need this faith, I need nature and it’s reassurance that despite worries and troubles I will find my way through the changes to come.
The tender threads of this summer have brought crops not forseen, isolation, depression, relationships struggles, health worries, world worries. How do we cultivate our faith, find meaning and hope? What crops will sustain us during this unforeseen season and the seasons to come.
I think of Vincent Van Gogh’s quote ““For my part I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream.” and am brought back to the certain. What we have always known, what our ancestors knew and their ancestors before them. We found our way back to the campfire, into the presence of the stars and moon. Back to our circles of love and trust. We rested and noticed the change of the seasons and allowed them to reset our fears, allowed our dreams to re-emerge. These things are certain.
Perhaps this is the faith that I need now, knowing that I will find my way back to the simple and known. To the quiet meals at twilight on a summer evening and natural beauty that my garden holds as I tend it. Perhaps I can have faith in this seasons warmth and beauty to know I will find my way through the next.
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