Song for Autumn

by Mary Oliver

In the deep fall
don’t you imagine the leaves think how
comfortable it will be to touch
the earth instead of the
nothingness of air and the endless
freshets of wind? And don’t you think
the trees themselves, especially those with mossy,
warm caves, begin to think
of the birds that will come — six, a dozen — to sleep
inside their bodies? And don’t you hear
the goldenrod whispering goodbye,
the everlasting being crowned with the first
tuffets of snow? The pond
vanishes, and the white field over which
the fox runs so quickly brings out
its blue shadows. And the wind pumps its
bellows. And at evening especially,
the piled firewood shifts a little,
longing to be on its way.

“No one who commits to following Christ, and does so, lives a life of ease. No one. If your Christianity has not brought discomfort to your life, something is wrong. A committed heart knows the discomfort of loving difficult people, the discomfort of giving until it hurts, the discomfort of putting oneself out for the ministry of Christ and his church, the discomfort of a life out of step with modern culture, the discomfort of being disliked, the occasional sense of having nowhere to lay your head. But Christ’s rewards far out value anything lost by following him.”

– R. K. Hughes in Luke: That You May Know the Truth. Preaching the Word

You won’t be seeing him in the Rugby World Cup next year, but watch out for Carlin Isles playing on the USA 7s rugby side in the Olympics come 2016! He’s helped put us on the international 7s map and the more exposure we get, the better!

(side note: for those of you not into rugby. There are two main forms of rugby: 15s and 7s. In 15s, there are 15 players from each team on the field at the time. In 7s, there are, wait for it, 7. 7s is a faster game with much less contact. 15s is more physical, arguably, more popular, and what most people are referring to when they say ‘rugby.’ The Rugby World Cup next year is 15s, but it is 7s that is being re-added to the Olympics in 2016.)