When we come to the fall season, we often consider it the end of something; the end of summer, we anticipate the coloring of the leaves and witness the plants and trees around us become dormant for the winter. However, when we think of about it, there are more new beginnings during this season of autumn than there are at the New Year. Each year I am reminded of the following quote:
 
    " It was football time, apple time,     harvest time, hunting time, school time.  Footsteps quickened. It was exciting to be in transition. It seemed more like the beginning of something than like the end of it."

And so it is with our church.  The fall brings the beginning of the new Liturgical year on September 1, and through it we are brought into another year of grace of the Lord.

Looking back and lamenting is just as destructive as complaining about the present; it drains our energy, diminishes our spirit and allows passivity to infect our community.  The happenings of a forward looking community are life giving and blessed; they look to the future and are positive by nature. They are signs of our cooperation with God's grace, and I pray that we all fulfill our responsibilities as Orthodox Christians and grow together for the good of our church and our community.

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