Fall

It seems to me at the moment that there are basically two ways of experiencing this season: with or without a cold. If a man does not have a cold the brisk air invigorates him, he looks at the falling leaves and so on as it where from above, contrasting the decay of nature with his own unconquered life. It seems to him that his destiny is not with the passing things of this world, but with the eternal things of heaven, who changing all things remain themselves unchanged. If he has a cold on the other hand (as I do at the moment) then he sees himself as part of the season, as caught up in the decay of all things, as very much mortal and subject to death, and his impulse is to pull the covers over his head and go to sleep till it’s all over…

There is, of course, a certain truth in both ways of experiencing it – man is both mortal and (in a way) immortal – but there is a danger of deception in both ways as well.

The Commemoration of All Soul’s in November is of course chiefly ordered to helping the poor souls in Purgatory, but in a secondary way it is also to help us – to remind us that we are mortal and that we must prepare ourselves to meet our judge. But the proper response to this reminder is not to go to sleep, but (as the liturgical readings keep reminding us at this time of year) to stay awake and watch…