REDEEMING THE TIME

sEPTEMBER—NOVEMBER, 2025

“In celebrating this feast we declare that evil and death, suffering and loss, sorrow and tears, will not have the final word.” -Douglas McKelvey, “Liturgy for Feasting with Friends,” from Every Moment Holy, Vol. 1.

In the autumn, the trees turn golden in preparation for emptiness. The air gets crisp–ready to be cold. The light begins to fade into gray. Crops that have been growing all year are harvested before they die. And many of us already begin to feel wistfulness for the life that is disappearing before our eyes.

But of course, before the chill gray truly moves in, there are fall glories: apple picking, favorite films, harvest festivals and celebrations, annual culinary favorites, and yes, pumpkin spice lattes. A harvest feast takes things that are dying and, in a way, marks them for eternity–in the form of unforgettable flavors and memories. In fact, in the waning days of the long green season before Advent, the Church has long celebrated Allhallowtide, three days of feasting that connect our gratitude for the past with our hope for the future.

The world around us is quick to dismiss the past. And we Christians have sometimes been too quick to join our neighbors in writing things off that “don’t last.” But autumn is an opportunity to do something different: to recognize that our timeless God works in things that appear to be fleeting, and to consecrate the moment for eternity. We do this when we cook for a feast. When we sing and laugh in the face of darkness. When we give thanks for the saints of the past. When we find new ways to repurpose old things. And when we learn, bit by bit, to live each moment like it is part of a larger story.

In this season, we will focus on the idea of the harvest feast (drawing inspiration from Allhallowtide), and the creative and hopeful art of marking the dying for resurrection.

Publishing with the Anselm Society

Fall Submissions due July 7th