A reflection from Sophie Caesar (who is serving with Lutheran Volunteer Corps this year):

As I write this reflection, I’m leaning back into a simple wooden chair looking down on a bustling Wilmington intersection. A candle is burning, slippers hug my feet, and leaves are alive in color above Cadillacs rolling down the street. The seasons are changing, if they haven’t already, as is apparent by frost growing on therosemary on my front porch or the sunlight entering my bedroom at a slightly sharper, lower angle. While I’ve only been in Delaware for a few months, I’ve already felt myself begin to retreat into the hibernation associated with cooler weather. Soups have become a staple of my house’s weeknight meals. Heavy blankets have been dragged out of the closet. Darkness has started to creep upon the edges of my commute home.

Consistency is a standard expectation in our society; it indicates both stability and reliability. Academically, in fact, it can be referenced as a point of legal legitimism. At work, we are to always generate a high- quality product, no matter the external factors in our lives. Our relationships are to last lifetimes at an even level of intimacy. Such a mechanistic expectation of humanity, however, denies many of our natural, intuitive behaviors. As Ecclesiastes tells us, there is a time to plant, a time to reap, a time to laugh, a time to weep. Consistency may be beneficial for social structures at large but is an unrealistic and inappropriate personal goal.

Winter is gnawing at our corners this time of year.