It’s October, and the days are growing crisp and cool. The sunlight is growing shorter. Summer’s vibrant greens are melting into autumn’s brilliant hues. The gold, orange, red, yellow, and even purple leaves dance in the sunlight. We marvel at the beauty of the trees’ foliage. We rarely take time to wonder at the science and lessons behind this transformation in the trees around us. The green color of the leaves in summer comes from chlorophyll, a substance that helps the plants absorb light energy from the sun to make food for the tree. Leaves contain other pigments, but chlorophyll’s green obscures them from our view. With autumn’s shorter hours of sunlight and cooler days, the tree prepares for winter. The tree stops making chlorophyll, and the colors of the other pigments become visible. We see yellow xanthophylls and orange carotenoids. These substances were already present within the leaf, helping the chlorophyll absorb light while protecting the leaf from damage from too much sun. Only now, as the chlorophyll breaks down, do we get to see the hidden beauty of their colors.

God does speak to us through presence, dreams, visions and our thoughts. Further, God will use events and circumstances to speak with us. More often than not, God uses the people placed in our lives to speak to us. God is good, and St. Benedict reminds us on the Awareness of God by looking not in the abstract but in the ordinary events of every day. Stated in the Rule of Benedict (Chapter 19), “We believe that the divine presence is everywhere.

Lately, I have been reflecting on the idea of commitment. The Community of St. Paul’s Monastery witnessed the final oblation of seven Oblates on June 5. The word Oblate has its origins in the word “offering.” The signing of the final oblation document on the altar is similar to that of the commitment that each vowed monastic makes when she places her document on the altar and signs her commitment to the Monastic Way.