As I stood today at the lake looking at the trees with their leaves on the ground. I began to write and ponder the seasons of life. I’ve always loved fall. It is such a beautiful season.
I took a deep breath. I could smell the leaves. It was pleasant. And yet I immediately realized, it was the smell of them decomposing, dying. How intriguing?, I thought. This my favorite season, yet it is a season of death. What could the Lord teach me about this?
I’ve been in a season of letting go. A season of watching things I had built and put my energy towards end. It’s been painful. It’s been hard. And here I stood looking at these trees and all of these fallen leaves. A visual representation of this season. But why didn’t I look at my season the same? I enjoy this season for the trees, but I’ve struggled through my own. How could I enjoy this season? What’s really happening? Can I find the beauty in my own season?
I began to take pictures of the leaves and I saw them in a new light…
Those leaves, those many little things that the tree put all of its energy and time into, are dying… but it isn’t meaningless. It is loss… but it isn’t without purpose. You see, there comes a season in all of our lives when everything we’ve placed our energy and attention to, dies and falls to the ground. And we, like these trees, are left standing empty and bare, confused and vulnerable. They’ve fallen from our arms (branches) to give nourishment to our feet (roots). It’s the beginning of a season of filling, renewing and rest.
Embrace the cold. Allow this season to strengthen you. Because something beautiful will bloom from all of this loss.
And though the winter will be long, dark and cold. The light is coming!
This is a holy season. “Maybe it is the dark, silky silence that descends so early that speaks to me of reverence. Maybe it is the promise that [this season] holds — that no matter how dark, how cold, how empty it can get, the light is coming back. Something always shifts in me when [this season] arrives — I embrace the darkness, and am eager for the coming solstice when the whole world is still and holds its breath, waiting to be reborn again. (Casey)
This is Advent. This is Hope.
Prayer:
Soon, our nights grow shorter and our days grow long.
We look once more on these earthy symbols–
firelight and evergreens–
and embrace the glow of hope
That Light and Life will return once again to the earth.
The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness; And the darkness could not put it out. – John 1:5 MSG
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