A prayer for the fall

God who designed a variety of seasons,

I’ll confess: fall is my favorite.

I celebrate the break in the heat.

I relish hearing college football in the background on Saturdays.

I swoon at the smells of chili and cinnamon.

I delight in scooping out pumpkin guts and carving jack-o-lanterns.

I eagerly await seeing kids in costumes.

I stockpile Reese’s and Peppermint Patties at day-after-Halloween sales.

I feel swaddled by the lengthening nights.

Thank you, thank you God, for fall.

Not all that I love about this season is possible this year. I get it.

So I think I’ll pray for a different kind of fall,

one that will really be memorable

and make all the seasons better.

I pray for the fall of White supremacy, in which people who look like me benefit from individual and systemic discrimination against people with Black and Brown skin.

I pray for the fall of the patriarchy, in which women’s options and pay are inversely proportional to the expectations put upon them.

I pray for the fall of fascism, in which suppression and intolerance snuff out the beauty of diversity and creativity.

I pray for the fall of greed, in which those who already have much try to grab up even more at the expense of others.

May these leaves fall to the ground, be gathered up, and burned so that beautiful, equitable life might sprout in their place.

Who knows? When that happens, spring might be my new favorite.

Amen.

Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash.