Seasons of Hope
Thursday, January 20, 2022
Eric Houck @a_guy_named_eric
INVOCATION
Great Spirit, refine us and lead us back to hope.
PRESENTATION
There’s a 13th century Sufi fable that tells the story of a dervish who spends his life traveling in pursuit of wisdom and enlightenment. After a lifetime of sojourning, he passes on the fount of wisdom he discovers in four simple words: this too shall pass.
On Tuesday, a giant asteroid passed by our earth-dwelling. If it had been coming straight towards us, there would have been nothing we could do to change its course. All we could have done was keep on living (as many of us did) without so much as a glance to the sky above.
Fascinating things are happening in real time in our atmosphere, our galaxy, and our universe that can be summed up in the same four simple words of the dervish: this too shall pass. Asteroids shall pass. Meteors shall pass. Tides, shooting stars, phases of the moon, and constellations shall pass. And we too shall pass. And in our passing, we continue to love, dream, believe, and hope.
As the Full Moon’s name changes with every season, so does our hope. And not only do our hopes change with the varying seasons of life, but they incrementally shift, as does the moon, moment to moment. A little good news here, a little bad, yet we hardly ever notice the change in the atmosphere of our hope. Too busy living, we forget to look up.
There was a time when no one could properly navigate their life without first knowing how to read the sky. Indigenous people of this land and others used the cosmos to map a well-lived life. Not only did the heavens give literal guidance and direction, but each passing phase of the moon guided their hope. Hunting, reaping, sowing, birthing, harvesting, all could be indicated by just knowing the names, faces, and moods of the moon.
Sufi wisdom tells us that no matter what today holds, this too shall pass. Indigenous wisdom tells us this is true, and that we should ook up and see what new hope is needed for each season.
JANUARY: Wolf Moon, Moon After Yule, Old Moon, Ice Moon, Snow Moon
FEBRUARY: Snow Moon, Hunger Moon, Storm Moon, Chaste Moon
MARCH: Worm Moon, Crow Moon, Sap Moon, Lenten Moon
APRIL: Pink Moon, Seed Moon, Sprouting Grass Moon, Egg Moon, Fish Moon
MAY: Flower Moon, Milk Moon, Corn Planting Moon
JUNE: Strawberry Moon, Mead Moon, Rose Moon, Honey Moon
JULY: Buck Moon, Hay Moon, Thunder Moon
AUGUST: Sturgeon Moon, Corn Moon, Red Moon, Green Corn Moon, Grain Moon
SEPTEMBER: Harvest Moon, Full Corn Moon
OCTOBER: Hunter’s Moon, Blood Moon, Sanguine Moon
NOVEMBER: Beaver Moon, Frosty Moon
DECEMBER: Cold Moon, Oak Moon, Long Nights Moon
LITANY
God of Hope,
We thank you for:
the wildness of the Wolf Moon
the quietude of the Snow Moon
the bittersweetness of the Sap Moon
the restoration of the Pink Moon
the nourishment of the Milk Moon
the passion of the Honey Moon
the flourishing of the Buck Moon
the strength of the Sturgeon Moon
the bounty of the Harvest Moon
the provision of the Hunter’s Moon
the shelter of the Frosty Moon,
And our hope beneath the Long Nights Moon.
Amen
EXHORTATION
Let hope make your heart glad. Keep sending your voice to the Great Spirit, even when the road gets hard to walk.
Romans 12:12, First Nations Version: An Indigenous Translation of the New Testament
BENEDICTION
May the Great Spirit Who Gives You Hope fill you with wonder, joy and peace. For this too shall pass. May you remember to look up.
Amen
This one is difficult to read and difficult to accept. Who would think there would be a trigger in four little words. My daddy’s second wife used these words flippantly with connection to anything. So many issues with illness, finances, children, etc. were met with those four little words. 🥺😢💔🙏🏻🤍💚
A balm of hope today. Thank you for these words. In these days, it feels so important to look up and be reminded that "this too shall pass". I also love all the seasonal descriptions of the moon. My beloved daughter was born near the Harvest Moon. Her middle name is, Meng Yue, Dream Moon.