Jone Rush MacCulloch
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Spiritual Journey Thursday and Poetry Friday, Week 44: Renewal

11/2/2023

 
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I'm doing double duty today as I am at the coast (perfect for the SJT theme of renewal). This post will serve for SJT and PF.

My mare-stanes (hag stone) at sunset at Rockaway Beach, Oregon.

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Fran of Lit Bits and Pieces is hosting Spiritual Journey Thursday this month.  She has a moving post about renewal and says, "In choosing the theme of renewal, I note that one definition of the word is resuming an activity after an interruption."

When I heard the topic of "renewal",  it was an "aha" as I have always viewed renewal as a spring time word.  As I study  Scots Gaelic, and the Celtic Calendar, we have entered a new year.  
Autumn is also renewal. The harvest is finished.Now it's the time of fall's decay,  the
 returning to the earth. The cold months are necessary for cleansing the land, for the renewal of the earth. And it's fitting that the Gaelic name for winter is  An Geamhrachd,  which is the Celtic word for cold.  

At Faith & Worship, I found a wonderful prayer for this time of renewal:

For the promise of harvest
contained within a seed
we thank you.
For the oak tree
within an acorn
The bread
within a grain
​
The apple
within a pip
The mystery of nature
gift wrapped
for us to sow
we thank you

I found an article on A Focus On Nature by Chloé Valerie Harmsworth.  She has wonderful illustrations in the article.  I used the "A Time of Renewal: Autumn and Winter" for the following found poem.

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A Time of Renewal: Autumn and Winter Nature Found Poem
From the article by  Chloé Valerie Harmsworth 

change
the clocks have moved back
the days short


the nights deep and long
the atmosphere seems to alter 
so do I 

mist, chilling
creep through the cracks  

I swaddle
an instinct to hibernate


saving energy 
a constellation
of warm, breathing bodies, 

waiting for the dark to pass 
strengthened
this yearning of mine. 


we can enjoy simple
peaceful activities
go on life-affirming walks
so much to learn

the days and weeks descend
into deep winter

my attention turns
 

to the trees’ naked beauty
arms reaching out to the sky 

noisy, chattering corvids
bring energy to the moment 


the earth’s reawakening
shoots burst with spirit
this period of rest
and contemplation allows me


to open
like the first snowdrop
ready to restart, refreshed and rejuvenated. 


©Jone Rush MacCulloch, 2023 draft


I am looking forward to hosting December's Spiritual Journey Thursday. as we head toward the shortest day, longest night, I am thinking about the importance of light in the dark of winter.

Our host for Poetry Friday is Buffy Silverman who is celebrating the arrival of her new book!
Sarah Grace Tuttle link
11/2/2023 07:18:27 pm

Happy turning of the wheel of the year Jone! I hope the coming cold months bring you restoration. Your poem is lovely. :) Thanks for sharing!

Irene Latham
11/3/2023 05:00:00 am

Jone, I love that hags stone pic!And I really appreciate the reminder of autumn being about renewal. Yes to "Earth's reawakening" too! xo

Karen Eastlund
11/3/2023 06:32:50 am

Jone: I love the poem you found as well as the one your wrote. I am rethinking autumn also, as it renews my ability to enjoy walks without heat, brings glorious color and line to the skyline, and the last harvest from my garden. All renewal. Thanks for this post!

PATRICIA J FRANZ link
11/3/2023 08:12:54 am

Thinking about nature gift wrapped like ourselves and the busyness that is taking place within that wrapping, what joy will we bring to they who wait to unwrap us come spring?

Buffy Silverman link
11/3/2023 09:22:55 am

Love the prayer for renewal, the oak tree within the acorn. And I so relate to swaddling the instinct to hibernate! I have to remember that it always worth it to open like the first snowdrop! (When I did this morning, I was treated to two bald eagles circling above our lake.

arjeha link
11/3/2023 09:54:24 am

Jone, we don't typically think of autumn as a time of renewal, but yet it is. Trees and bulbs are storing energy so that they can burst forth come spring. There is beauty in the "naked trees". Thank you for your inspiring poem.

Carol Varsalona link
11/3/2023 09:55:19 am

Jone, there is so much richness in your post: the photos, the prayer, the found poem, and the Gaelic/Celtic back matter. The beach respite must have been so relaxing. Have a Happy November!

Kelly Wilson link
11/3/2023 11:16:45 am

Put simply...WOW. This is resonant and beautiful.

Fran Haley link
11/3/2023 11:17:17 am

Gorgeous offerings, Jone! Like you, I've always thought of renewal as a spring-ish thing. Yet the pull of it right now, in this season, is too strong for me to deny. Love this line of yours especially: "The cold months are necessary for cleansing the land, for the renewal of the earth." Truth. Love the dash of Gaelic/Celtic vocab, too! Thank you for being a fellow spiritual journey traveler.

Linda Baie link
11/3/2023 02:41:18 pm

Both poems shout a celebration for this time of year, Jone. I do love your "gift wrapped" and learning of An Geamhrachd, which is the Celtic word for cold. The 2nd poem too, shows that part that seems so important to all of nature and us, that "period of rest and contemplation". Both are lovely! I just saw your pictures at the beach, love that you shared!

Tracey Kiff-Judson link
11/3/2023 08:28:30 pm

Jone, I love the way you positioned the stone with the sunset in the background – such a lovely shot. I appreciate your thoughts on autumn as a time of renewal. That shift in perspective makes the shorter days seem filled with possibility.

Ramona link
11/4/2023 04:54:59 am

Jone, there's so much I love in your poem. I'm planning to add it to my quote book of favorites. I woke up this morning thinking,,,Ahh! the one day of the year that is longer than 24 hours, a gift for sure! I love the idea of swaddling and being strengthened, the joy of simple peaceful activities, and the opportunity to rest and contemplate. As for the naked beauty of the trees, Grandson and I call them skeleton trees. Thanks for joining us!

Jone MacCulloch
11/4/2023 07:49:19 am

Thank you, Ramona. I an honored to be included in your quote book,.

Margaret Simon
11/4/2023 05:45:21 am

This post is just right for me to share with my students next week. We will be going to a nature preserve state park for a field trip on Friday, and I want them to contemplate the renewal found in nature. Thanks for these model poems.

Jone MacCulloch
11/4/2023 07:50:18 am

I will be anxious to see what your students do with their field trip, Thank you for sharing my post with them,

Mary Lee
11/4/2023 06:04:20 am

Thank you for this focus on renewal.

janice scully link
11/4/2023 11:25:13 am

I also find hope in the change of seasons, a time to slow down and think. Loved the verses you shared, Jone, and the lovely rock. Along Cayuga Lake near me I've found rocks with holes that some call lucky rocks. I love to think about how the forces of nature that seem so large, manage to carve rocks like that.

Rose Cappelli
11/5/2023 04:12:19 am

Thank you for this beautiful post, Jone. I have plans to work in my garden today, preparing it for winter and thinking about the cycles in nature. I admit to savoring the dark days of winter as a time to renew. Your lines:

"this period of rest
and contemplation allows me
to open
like the first snowdrop"

touched my soul.


Comments are closed.

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    All photos and poems in these blog posts are copyrighted to Jone Rush MacCulloch 2006- Present. Please do not copy, reprint or reproduce without written permission from me.

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