We are closing in on the end of summertime. It is always a strange time of year. The glory and joy of those long summer days and warm summer nights begins to give way to the planning and the worry about the beginning of the new school year, the new congregational year, the change of season.
I went to sleep-away camp for many years as a child. It was among the most formative, challenging, and wonderful aspects of my childhood. There were years I hated it, years I wished I could live at camp year round. I experienced so many firsts while away during those summer weeks. Amazing things happen in those temporary but intense communities. And those summer times taught me what it means to watch something end and to say goodbye. At the close of the summer, you could be assured some folks would return, but others you knew you were unlikely to ever see again. Camp goodbyes involved a good deal of uncertainty, along with deep sorrow and great love. And the lead up to those goodbyes was never easy.
A city kid in the country for seven and a half weeks, my knowledge of stars was limited. But I learned the shape of Cassiopeia, among a few other constellations. And I knew the path that Cassiopeia took across the summer sky. I knew when it sunk to a certain point, the end of summer was near. It became my visual center for the summer; each night after an evening activity I would find it in the sky as I walked through the cool of the New Hampshire dark. To this day, my eyes look for Cassiopeia in the summer darkness as a reminder of the flow of time, the reality of goodbyes, and the ways that our own history empowers us to move forward in spite of change and loss.
As the end of summer draws near, may you find your own centers– visual and otherwise, and your own deep wells of strength that sustain you as you move through the changing seasons.
Cassiopeia marches the length of the summer night sky
boasting of her beauty and challenging god
I once was lost but have secretly been found
I know that there is more to life than a lie
Harsh is the punishment fate decries for her pride
Her daughter chained and locked away
I no longer walk fearing grief
Gentled and cleansed by long sighs
Andromeda will be set free from her starlit sea rock chains
A man with a mission will come to her aid
I have no need of a guide any longer
I have waved goodbye to unwarranted pains
Fall has come and a new story has begun
New stars and a new set of tales
I will arise and make my way
through the night with the setting sun
One star in the night sky burning bright until it burns away
One tear kissing a cheek as a memory fades to grey
One spark igniting hope at the dawning of the day
Freed by eternity I am welcome to stay
My heart no more beats its desire to stray
Quiet with courage I now make my way
letting go I begin
letting go I am one
letting go I am let in
letting go I run.
