Changing With the Seasons

The multi-colored shade of trees,

     the crunch of brown and brittle leaves underfoot,

          a sea of brilliant red and orange hues that span acres,

               the crisp and invigorating air,

                    a flickering flame of a bonfire dancing in the night,     

                         the lazy afternoon spent at the apple orchard sipping on a cider slushy,

                              the plump and deep orange pumpkin find,

           freshly baked glazed pumpkin cookies,          

                pumpkin seeds roasted with just the right amount of seasoning,

        melt-in-your mouth pumpkin pie with a dollop of whipped cream

--- did I say pumpkin?!

Fall is one of my favorite seasons, and not just because I love everything pumpkin. Something about the crisp fresh air after the scorching heat of summer refreshes my soul. The beauty of the leaves as they change colors overnight and the ground covered with a rainbow of yellow, orange, and red always brings a smile to my face. “Autumn shows us how beautiful it is to let things go.”

Yes, you heard me right. I realize I’m one of the last people to welcome change. I tend to be the one to cling to something because it is familiar, known, and comfortable. But this season teaches a different lesson. The trees let go of their leaves for a time in order to prepare for the future bloom. Fall reminds us that change is inevitable but always involves a beauty that was not there before. Change can be terrifying and difficult, but at the same time captivatingly wonderful.

For as we learn to “let go” as the trees shed their leaves, we are able to embrace the growth within us. As the old saying goes, “God cannot fill hands already full.” Think about it. If we are holding on to past hurts, habits, and attitudes, noticing the potential growth and change within will be problematic. In order to embrace what will be --- to embody what God is blooming within us ---we must be willing to let go of what was. As we hold in awe the unwrapping of the leaves from their branches, may we ask ourselves what habits, mindsets, addictions, and worries do we need to “let go” of. In return, what passions, thought processes, behaviors, and attributes do we need to fill our being with? For as Holley Gerth says, “Let’s remember we are all still in the middle of the messy, beautiful work of becoming.”