Dear Friends,
Wally sat on the curb with his hard hat beside him. Sweat ran down his face, his shirt clung to his back, and for the first time all morning the noise stopped. The jackhammers had fallen silent. The cranes stood still. The only sound he heard was the sound of his lunchbox opening mixed with the feeling of gratitude for ten minutes of shade. It was nearly noon, and the August sun had turned the city into an oven.
For a few precious moments, Wally wasn’t building anything.
He was simply…being, sitting in the shade of a building, feeling some coolness, a little peace.
I couldn’t help but wonder if St. Francis would have sat down beside him. Not to preach. Not to offer advice. Just to share the shade with Wally.
Francis understood something we often forget. God is not found only in cathedrals or retreat centers. He is found in life’s ordinary moments like honest work, in tired hands, in shared meals, and in the quiet silence that follows a long day of labor.
The “Dog Days of August” have earned their reputation as the hottest, slowest days of the year. We often complain about them and even count the days until cooler weather arrives.
But maybe we’ve misunderstood them, these days are not interruptions to life, they’re invitations.
Sometimes, our lives can move at an exhausting pace. There is always another email, another appointment, another errand, or a screaming headline demanding our attention. We have become experts at filling every moment with something or someone.
But August asks us another question:
When was the last time you simply sat quietly and peacefully beneath the shade of God’s presence?
Instead of fighting the slower pace, what if we embraced it?
How can we do that?
- Spend time without your phone.
- Watch a sunrise or sunset.
- Read a chapter of the Gospel outside.
- Share a meal with friends or family that lasts a little longer than usual.
- Visit or call someone you haven’t spoken to in a while.
- Offer a word of encouragement to someone carrying a burden.
- Reflect on the stars a night.
- Sit down alone, close your eyes and breathe deeply for a few minutes.
Francis believed that love often arrives quietly in silence, or in a conversation, a shared loaf of bread, a smile offered to a stranger, or a moment of gratitude whispered to God before the day slips away.
“The Dog Days” remind us that not every season is meant for planting or harvesting. Some seasons are simply meant for opening our eyes wider to who and what surrounds us each day.
To slow down enough to notice God’s presence in people and in all creation around us.
Perhaps that is the real work of August.
Wally, the construction worker eventually stood, picked up his hard hat, and returned to work as the city grew noisy again.
But for those few minutes beneath the shade, something sacred had happened.
He had rested. He had breathed. He had remembered that before we are workers, parents, students, retirees, or even disciples…
…we are loved unconditionally by our God.
Sometimes the holiest thing we can do is simply stop long enough to notice that God is already there waiting for us in the shade.
Many Blessings,
Fr. David Convertino, OFM
Executive Director
National Franciscan Office of Development