Autumn Reflections
Autumn is my favorite season of the year, mostly because of the diverse canvas of colors that burst forth from the trees. I look forward to and enjoy the cooling temperatures, the golden harvest fields, festival celebrations, the NC State Fair, and the approach of end of year festivities. It’s just a wonderful time of year.
Several years ago, I made myself a promise that Autumn would be a time for me to slow down every year. Our years can be so busy, so packed full of life and activity that it can feel as if life has a hold of us. It can feel at times that we’re just along for the ride; Summer is especially bad about that. And if we’re not careful, the busyness of the year will crowd out the daily blessings of life in God’s world, and life with God.
I hate feeling busy. I run from it. But slowing down and living slowly is a discipline. It's something we have to do on purpose. Alan Fadling's book, An Unhurried Life, has been helpful to me in this regard and I return to it often.
Unhurried; slow living; purposeful. These are words that I strive for. Unhurried and slow does not mean lazy. The idea is to be purposeful, determined, and focused as I move through this season.
And one way that I’ve learned to slow down every year is by looking at the leaves.
The leaf change process in North Carolina usually starts somewhere in late September or early October.
“I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.” - Anne of Green Gables
I live in North Carolina's central Piedmont, and whenever I notice the first subtle leaf changes, I start reminding myself every morning, “Watch the leaves. Take them in. Appreciate them.”
I like to fill my Autumn with the sounds of Autumn music; music that makes me feel the Autumn in my soul. For me, that's music like James Taylor’s “October Road,” J.J. Cale’s “Naturally,” and Tony Rice’s “Church Street Blues.” You could also throw in the banjo magic of Alison Brown and Steve Martin.
Something about that music, the cool air, and the beautiful colors makes me feel the Autumn. But even still, there is something about the Autumn that is more sacred and more comforting than its visual beauty…
The Right Time...
The book of Psalms tells us over and over again—in a multitude of ways—that God's world sings God’s wonder.
The created realm sings and proclaims God’s beauty, His wisdom, His knowledge, and His promises. And the more I’ve intentionally observed the changing of the leaves year by year, the more I’ve come to think of the Autumn as the time of year when God paints.
And I love paintings, especialyl landscapes — I love to collect the work of artists that I admire and have their work hanging in my study. Painting is such a wonderful way to depict our world, capturing elements of the world that we can both see and feel. And the Autumn is certainly a painting that can be seen and felt.
But more than just beautiful collections of yellows, reds, and greens, the Autumn, I believe, is meant to remind us of God’s goodness in the death of His Son, Jesus Christ.
The leaves change colors because the Autumn signals that the time is right. In the physical world, the right time means that the leaves to stop producing the chlorophyll that makes the leaves green. They stop feeding themselves, and begin the death process. And as the chlorophyll leaves, the green gives ways to those beautiful shades of yellow, red, lighter greens, and brown. And for a time, the world glows.
Every year, when the time is right, the leaves die and we wonder at its beauty.
A Reminder...
The Autumn, in all of its beauty, is also a spiritual reminder of a promise made long ago. God made no accidents when He crafted His world.
His world tells His story.
The Autumn is a reminder of a promise that God made to save His people from their sins. The changing of the leaves reminds us that there is beauty in death, most particularly, there is beauty in the death of God's Son, Jesus Christ, the Savior of the World.
The Bible tells us that when the time was right, “in the fullness of time,” God sent forth His Son to die for our sins.
Just as the leaves know when it is time to die according to God's design, so too our Lord came in the fullness of His time to die for sins. And in the death of Jesus, God displays the beauty and wisdom of His plan…His plan to save the world.
Every single year—when the time is right, the beautiful death of leaves each Autumn season gives way to the wonderful, life-giving arrival of Springtime. At just the right time, life returns and the creation sings again.
And just as Jesus offered Himself on a cross, dying for the sins of the world, buried in the earth, so too did God bring Him back to life three days later. So, too, is the hope of the Christian. Because of Jesus, Christians may face death with the hope of eternal life.
Jesus' death and resurrection is a promise of eternal life in God — not only for Him, but for all who repent of their sins and trust in Him (Rom. 9:10-13).
Slow Down...and Look
So, slow down. Look at the leaves. Appreciate their beauty. And remember the greatest news ever told, that when the time was right, God sent forth His Son to die, and having died for sins, He raised Him to life.
Watch in wonder as God paints the world.
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