A Joyful Losing

As I peer into the enormous pumpkin patch, I note the once dark green pumpkins slowly begin their transformation to bright orange. It’s so exciting! They turn colors much as the leaves do; they stop producing chlorophyll with the longer and cooler fall nights. The green pigment fades, and we begin to see the carotenoids that give the orange and yellow tint.

I love thinking about autumn: the beauty we observe represents a slowing down, a decay, a loss, and a fading. We delight in something aging, and in this loss, we see the most glorious colors. The decay was a condition for art. The beauty requires a certain kind of losing.

It’s a joyful, marvelous losing.