Fall in North Carolina has always been my favorite season - its beauty a grace stirring imagination and reality. The colors of reds, golden hues, burnt orange create a forest fire of life - a cycle of the spirit. In the season of autumn, I find God's artistic hand and loving light in every strata of the scenery. How can one not look at the blazing colors of a tree in autumn splendor and not recognize the artistry in the science and depth of creation.
I fall into God's grace and strain in my weakness in fall. I fall in love with Christ's sacrifice and demand my own need to cast down the expectations of my ego, in turn accepting at the crossroads of this season life and death - my will is a broken map - I fall into God's love and God's will, even if the road seems difficult and uncertain.
The autumn leaves are dying - in death they shine with the intensity of of life's brightest light, nothing can compare to the light of a leaf dying in October and November's changing of the guard - in dying they rise up and our spirits too are able to soar away from our self-centered routine - we are driven outside away from computers and deadlines into the brief rush of nature's spectacular art exposition.
The first imagery I am drawn to is Christ, HIMSELF, His Glory shining in His Death on the cross, willing to submit to the Father's will and to sacrifice HIMSELF for us - able to remain rooted in God's will - able to trust that even in death, there is the hope of God's grace, the mercy of a resurrection. Jesus was in the prime of his life when he was condemned to the cross - and yet it was a broken world that condemned HIS Spirit...By the world's standards Christ failed in dying, yet as the glorious colors of autumn leaves attest - in dying Christ conquered death - sin was broken.
We often question - why suffering occurs, why death and yet in nature we find death often yields life and in dying, life is born again. The tree is not dead, the leaves are dying - the tree will reign as long as it is rooted in the ground, nourished by the soil.
Our roots must be in Christ and we must feed on the nourishment of the Holy Spirit and do the will of the Father. I find the glory of fall leaves, the joy of letting go is when we let go of our own limited viewpoints - our worldly vision - and let God in. Only then can we die from bad patterns and move forward....this transition is difficult because all we see is winter, suffering, disgrace and fear - yet God promises if we wait on HIM, His Spirit will renew us - a tree trusts that the leaves must fall and the season of life will be born again.
Christ's birth is coming again in Christmas and His Life, Death and Resurrection remains with us always - even when death seems to have won - darkness never triumphs, the tree still rises to meet the sun and the moon, rain and wind, grounded in faith of resurrection.
In taking time to study the cycle of fall leaves, our hearts, minds and souls discover countless lessons.
In the Garden of Eden we encounter two specific trees: The Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Fall as a season reminds us to seek God in creation and in our hearts humble ourselves to HIS glory. I find metaphors for many aspects of the Genesis story in fall.
Adam and Eve fall from grace and yet in falling, God's mercy does not permit death to overtake life. While it is easy to trust in the 'world' - turning onto the back of sin and our own way - in the end until we submit to knowing God's good we will become a skeleton tree who fell from glory and shall not rise. God's judgment on sin and our need for humility is not an act of God playing power-monger - rather as we feast on God's roots of knowledge and HIS good we discover that only when we follow the perfect law of love and forgiveness and sow peace will life be abundantly lived.
A tree in autumn is content to live in the cycle of life. A tree's leaves are willing to die - showcasing their brightest and most unique attributes - trusting that it is time to let go of the decaying matter and rest in the trust that life will renew. The leaves feed the ground and life continues in a rhythm so perfect and at times so simple that I can only see God's hand in the turning of leaves, to the dying trees, as the tree prepares for the sojourn of winter before resurrection.
Until we let go of past bitterness, anger, frustration, hate, doubt - we cannot detach from the shadows, we are like a live person living in the frozen ground - unable to move forward, yet also unable to navigate the past. We cannot grow, we start to die spiritually and physically. Fall to me is a time of detachment from the world and a recognition of my meekness, the weaknesses of my heart and my inability of perception. It is a time of quiet contemplation and arguing with myself - making peace with the person God wills me to be - the fire of the Holy Spirit burning with a refining fire - until the past is cleansed and I am made new in Christ.
Trees teach us so much about how to be in communion with God. God is life, God is love and God is spirit and truth. A tree is grounded by its roots. It receives water from its roots and nutrients from the foundation of the earth as well as the sun. The tree is perfectly grounded in the earth while constantly striving for heaven.
So must we aim to ground ourselves in the roots of Christ, and as the branches and leaves are not separate from the tree - so must we take our nourishment and faith from Our Father. A branch cannot be self-reliant - it relies on the roots and tree system to survive.
When we start to fall away from God we are branches without roots, unable to sustain ourselves spiritually, physically, emotionally, mentally - we become dead wood. We will fail to produce lasting fruit.
Often times we fail to let our 'leaves' die and in turn allow God to renew our branches - we insist on holding onto things that separate us from God, resisting the HIS transforming power out of fear, ego, anxiety, greed...we each have a desire to control the roots - but we are the branches and a branch without a root system is unable to survive. God's will is the best will for us and accepting HIS will is not a punishment or a restriction - I have come to discover that letting go of my expectations and in giving God free reign in my life has led to freedom and hope - I might not be able to partake in certain patterns - in time I find those patterns, though on the surface enjoyable - they held me back.
Trees understand when it is time to let go and give Glory to God in the process. In dying they are born again, for a tree with a strong root structure - does not die will the winter - rather it waits and gathers - transforming itself in a new and marvelous turn of the seasons as spring arrives.
As we enter into Advent and the Christmas season we will be barraged by the stress of shopping frenzies, ad-campaigns, consumerism and more consumerism. While I think shopping and holiday cheer is wonderful...may these final weeks of fall remind us of the simple graces of God's creation and that in detaching from the world we are not called to draw closer to God by earthly things - but we find God in the bounty of the Holy Spirit and the Gifts of God's grace and presence in our lives through the Holy Trinity.
The trees die, leaving us a skeleton skyline, still richly beautiful as we are drawn to the heavens - nothing is more spectacular than a sunset - fire red - against barren trees lying in wait - in anticipation of life's cycle - never weary, but strong and steadfast in anticipation.
Death on this earth does not have the final say if we remain rooted in God's grace through Jesus Christ. While heaven and earth may pass away, the seasons change, scenery changes, life changes - God does not change and rooted in His Spirit as we detach from the investment in earthly things as our 'soul' proprietorship and instead let the creation of the earth draw us closer to the Creator, Our Father, we find that death does not conquer the soul and in Christ though we may die - our life shines brilliant as the autumn leaves, surpassing time - and we are born again to eternal life..a life not of decay and ash but of the promise of our coming Lord and the Resurrection.
May this season of anticipation, of mourning and thanksgiving - awaken in us anew the wonder of God in HIS Son Christ, the faith of endurance as we walk forward on our journey home.
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