On the route to my office, I pass a digital sign telling me how many days to "puck drop." That countdown tells me more than I want to know. It clearly refers to the start of the NHL season. And that clearly tells me that fall and winter will be here far too soon.
As I write this, I'm also starting to see window notices for "back to school" sales. I try to ignore things, but I'm being forced to acknowledge the obvious. Summer will end, I'll have to wear warmer clothes, I'll trudge through the snow and ice, I'll promise myself that I won't complain about the cold weather this year, I'll break that promise, and I'll start longing for the return of spring and summer.
Of course, those signs about school and the NHL also announce that we are turning to a new academic year. That's about newness. Now and then, I hear someone moan, "Here we go again!" It's almost as if they are bemoaning another academic year starting and don't see it as that different from the previous year.
I've written before about the rhythmic nature of the seasons, whether climate seasons or liturgical seasons. One way of looking at them is to see ourselves as repeatedly going in circles, hearing the same scripture readings at Mass, seeing the same old autumn colours, and teaching the usual course. You've seen one sunset, you've seen them all! But that way of seeing is not very fruitful or hopeful. Nor does it acknowledge that we grow and develop. It's really getting caught in the trap of routine. It is far healthier for us to connect to the rhythm of these changing seasons.
Saint Ignatius of Loyola saw stasis, the lack of interior movement, as the enemy of the spiritual life. To connect to the rhythm means that I let myself be fully engaged with the world around me. Thus, I can more easily detect God in the same Gospel account I heard yesterday, the nuances of the autumn colours as we progress through the season, and the novel I’ve taught many times before.
Perhaps that refrain should be changed to be an upbeat "Here we go again!" It IS different from the previous year! If you're a teacher, ask how the students before you have changed and grown over the summer. How have you changed? Regardless of who you are or what you do, the start of a new academic year is like another chance. It's January 1 all over again. I have another chance to set new goals and resolutions. If I'll be involved with new classes, I'll have a chance to get to know new people and ways of doing things. If my office colleagues have changed, how will the new people challenge me to a new way of thinking?
We all know that resolutions are dangerous things and are too easily broken. But it never hurts to make them. They are an expression of my desires. What do I want? How do I want to grow or develop? So, as we start another new year, let's not be reluctant about naming our dreams for this new season. As for me, I guess I have to embrace that reality of the countdown to the puck drop.