With Faith on the Eighth.

Geneva, December 8, 2025

A time for everything

I did not grow up with the four seasons but have come to treasure them like old friends.  My favourite by far is the Autumn for all the reasons we know: beautiful colours in every shade of yellow, red, brown and gold; comforting carpets of fallen leaves; brilliant flocks of starling showing nature at its best, and, the crisp cooler weather that preps me for winter’s full blown cold. Autumn is alive in a way that I can only describe as confident, combining the pleasures of all other seasons in its glow.  It does not require the multiplicity of pastel spring colours nor its abundant showers; it says no to summer’s heat and ushers in darker evenings yet lights me up with spectacular sunrises and sunsets.  

I know, right? Wow indeed!

Seasons have also taken on new meaning as I move into the Autumn of my life- my third Act if you will. And like the season, I stride into it with confidence and grace, joyfully looking forward to all the colours, comforts, flights and yes, gusts of wind and changes in temperature that it will bring.  When I think of the years gone by, I feel only gratitude for all the seasons in my life- you really have to live to learn and I am so lucky for all the lessons.  I feel settled and still and prepared for each new day, in an unburdened kind of way.  There truly is freedom and a centeredness that comes with age and I am celebrating that and the gifts of all the metaphoric seasons I have lived through.

A bridge to a new season.

I am drawn to the Bible verses in the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 3, which to my mind are universal in application irrespective of faith belief.

There is a time for everything,
 and a season for every activity under the heavens:
A time to be born and a time to die,
A time to plant and a time to uproot,
A time to kill and a time to heal,
A time to tear down and a time to build,
A time to weep and a time to laugh,
A time to mourn and a time to dance,
A time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
A time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
A time to search and a time to give up,
A time to keep and a time to throw away,
A time to tear and a time to mend,
A time to be silent and a time to speak,
A time to love and a time to hate,
A time for war and a time for peace.


I find these lyrical verses pertinent in both form and substance, comforting as they are in their affirmations in the stories of lives lived, mine included.  Each line speaks to me and provides release of burdens carried and worries held.  
The verses are a meditation that bring me to the here and now, consciously holding this time, the present, today and this season in my embrace.  This knowing..., this acceptance is a cradle for the confidence to take each day in whatever form it presents and live it as I know best. It’s as simple as that. 

A call to contemplation.

The other day, in one of my long Thursday chats with one of my many brothers, I blurted “we are living the only life we have, right now, right here”. Those words arose from my subconscious but filled both our hearts and rooms, even across the miles, in a way that we both only can know. The phrase has become a mantra of sorts for us.

I turn also to the musings of Zen Master Beopjeong (1932-2010) a Korean Buddhist Monk who like many of the gifts in my life, showed up unexpectedly on a page and never left. His wise words on acceptance and living in the present guide me.   

We cannot be sure of a coming Spring, Summer, Autumn or Winter.
We live in the present and cannot know the future.
So moment-by-moment, wherever we are,
 we must use the time given to us with deep gratitude.

It’s layered, delicate, starting to wilt but remains beautiful by its very presence. The more I looked the more I saw. Its been months but I rememeber like it was yesterday.

A place of gratitude is exactly where I am as I round up 2025, a year which has been complete in every way.  

I am thankful for each glorious day, for the present,
for each of life’s seasons, for nature's humbling and illuminating bounty,
for the assurance that what truly matters in life is knowing who I am,
for the peace in my heart,
for the encounters I have had,
for keeping close those that stay, and,
for letting go of those that need to be,
for hearing and answering the call,
for the beautiful Insightful Community that has emerged, and,
for the joy and satisfaction that my robust work brings.

And now to you.  What is your wish as you go into 2026? Mine is to be healthy and happy.  Let’s be healthy and happy.  How about that?

With love, Faith.