We live in a most beautiful part of the province where rugged natural vistas are at every turn of the road. Trees and lakes and rocks abound and scenery is the reason many people feel drawn to this area. At this time of year the views are spectacular as the trees put on their autumn show of glorious colour.
I confessed to someone recently that, as much as I love autumn and all that it offers, I always feel a little sad when a season ends. It is as much a time of ending as it is of beginning. Autumn, with all its glory and beauty, ushers in the dormant season of winter. Falling leaves remind us that the robust productivity of summer has ended and we shift into the season of deep slumber.
That said, I was encouraged, when I read in a little book called, 20 Spiritual Practices that Yard Word Can Teach You “Be thankful for falling leaves. Those leaves are making way for buds that are already there, hidden, waiting to appear in the spring. Each falling leaf is a promise of future blessing.” Ah, the prodigious nature of God’s creation. A fallen leaf means a bud for next year has pushed it’s way through. The sure cycle of nature woven from the Creator’s unfolding love. In death comes life.
Farmers plant fall wheat. Gardeners dig in bulbs. Seeds and bulbs hidden in what will be frozen soil until the sun warms it enough to prod growth and greening and life.
A drifting leaf, beautiful in its beholding is a reminder that life pushes through death and comes to us again in its season.
