There are flowers enough in the summertime,
More flowers than I can remember—
But none with the purple, gold, and red
That dyes the flowers of September!
–Mary Howitt (1799–1888)

Harvest Moon is always the name of the full Moon that falls closest to the date of the autumnal equinox. In years when the Harvest Moon falls in September, the October full Moon is known as the Hunter’s Moon, the Travel Moon, or the Dying Grass Moon

---

LIFE IS A JOURNAL

I’ve never been the type of person to keep a journal and write about what happened in my life on any given day. I’m simply not disciplined enough. I freeze up when I open a book and see a blank page and the few times I have tried it, the writing quality was mechanical and read like a 4th grade book report.

However, I recommend the practice for those of you that are less inhibited by the blank page. It shouldn’t read like a young girl’s diary, though it’s your journal and your life. It can be a record of something you are trying to accomplish for instance.

When I went through CRHP (Christ Renews His Parish), one of the younger men in the group, Tom, mentioned keeping a journal of your faith journey; more specifically, your daily Bible reading. Even with Tom’s expertise, I still wasn’t disciplined enough, but I talked to other men in the group and it gave them a new outlook on life as it pertained to scripture. It would be unfair to say they saw a new meaning to the words, but they now saw the words fit the contemporary world around them.

Most people will never actually keep a journal but they will use Twitter or Facebook to jot down every detail of their lives for the world to see. That’s okay but when I say life is a journal, being literal was only an option.

When you are a child and you get in trouble in school, it’s not the end of your life (though sitting in the principal’s office may seem like it is), it’s just another page of your journal and tomorrow is a blank page. That is the page you can write.

If you take a turn down the path of personal destruction and take your first hit on a crack pipe that is a choice you made of your own free will. Each day, when you look at that blank page that is the rest of your life, you can turn around and start your life over.

Some mistakes may be beyond simply starting over, but that page goes blank each day and the choice is yours what to write. If you did something you feel is beyond help, face the problem head on and take the consequences. The page is still blank each time you wake up. A prayer is the first thing I like to write and the rest just works itself out somehow. It may not always seem that easy, but it is.

Going through CRHP was an eye opener for one little reason. During the year, we talked about our lives in depth and I was taken aback by some of the terrible life events some of my Chirp brothers were dealing with. It was a shock because they were quiet, unassuming men that came from generally well to do backgrounds. I realized my life was bland by comparison.

One by one, they opened up and told stories of pain or sorrow that really hurt and set them back in life. When I watched for a common link to what turned their lives around, it was the same each time; prayer.

Some of their lives went easy, but they filled any emptiness with prayer and those that had good lives, got better. They all realized that life is a journal to be written. When a page starts out with a prayer, the rest can’t be too bad.

I doubt I will ever actually write a journal. Someone gave me one once and it’s still empty. I have no idea how to send text messages and you won’t find me on Twitter. I have a Facebook page but I don’t “chat” about my life. I use it to keep in touch with friends. In this fast paced world, that’s about all they have time for and that’s okay. Tomorrow is a blank page.

My life has become an open book and there are no guarantees on how many pages are left. When my journal is finished and the cover closes, the Lord will put it on His bookshelf with the others. My final prayer is that He likes what He reads.

Examine yourselves, to see whether you are holding to your faith. Test yourselves. Do you not realize that Jesus Christ is in you? -- unless indeed you fail to meet the test!
2 corinthians 13:5

I know that [there is] no good in them, but for [a man] to rejoice, and to do good in his life.
Ecclesiastes 3:12