Autumn
I hear so many people say they love autumn. It’s time for comfy, sweater weather. Yummy pumpkin spice is sprinkled on everything (which I am not a fan). Baseball season is winding down and beloved football gearing up. The scorching humid heat of summer is gone and the frigid frozen nights of winter is still a few months away. I guess autumn gives us some steadiness. It is a period of transition that we can regroup and reflect. Yes, it seems like autumn is the favorite season for a majority of people. I wonder if God planned it that way?
Life is a cycle of seasons. We begin with spring – birth. We learn. We grow. We weather storms that will either break us or make us stronger. We mend. We hopefully learn from the storms. We hopefully grow some more. Within this season, there could be multiple cycles of lessons and growth.
Spring then cycles into summer. Summer can be two-fold. It can be a time of enjoyment of playing in the sun like a kid. Catching lightning bugs in the evenings. Dining at picnic tables with family and friends. Sitting on the front porch with a nice glass of iced lemonade. These are the good times of summer. But summer can also be a time of pain. A season of desert dryness. The suns unrelenting violent rays beating down on ones back. Your dry tongue sticking to the roof of your mouth, begging for just a drop of water. Swarms of mosquitoes feasting on any open skin they can find. To me, summer is a glimpse of the best and worst of our life in faith. We have the moments with God that are pure joy – the mountaintop moments. We have the moments when we feel like we are deserted – wandering in the wilderness. It is interesting how in a split second summer can turn from joy to pain, just like in life.
Summer then cycles into autumn. The harshness of summer is but a memory. Just as the good times of summer are a memory. I always think that one of God’s greatest gifts He ever gave is our memory. If you read the Psalms, the writers are constantly singing praises of what God had done in the past. It’s like they are constantly having to remind themselves of the great things God had accomplished. “Hey, remember when God split the Red Sea and we were free? Remember when we crossed over the Jordan? Remember when manna fell from the heavens and we were never hungry? Remember? Remember? Remember?” Without our memories we couldn’t look back and see traces of God in our lives when we went through something painful. I know when I go through trials, I cling to the memories I have when God was faithful. It reminds me that if God was faithful then, He will be faithful again. This is why I like autumn. Autumn gives us a time to breathe. Take in what we have been through and figure out where to go next. Autumn is like a rest stop for future endeavors. Farmers work hard all summer long tending their crops, but in autumn they get to reap the rewards for what they have sown. Autumn is the time that we can look back and be thankful for the many blessings we have received. Some may say they don’t have anything to be grateful for, but as a friend pointed out to me when you start to say thank you to God for every little thing you will realize how blessed you are. You may think it is foolish to thank God for the air you breathe, but if you didn’t have that next breath of oxygen you wouldn’t be here anymore. We are so blessed…the real question may be, do you feel blessed? If you don’t, why?
Lastly, autumn cycles into winter. We all know winter is the time of death. Tree limbs are bare. Plants wither and die. Birds fly south to warmer weather. Animals (us included) hibernate, dreaming of better days. Yes, winter is a bleak, bleak season blanketed in layers of snow and ice. It is a season of no growth…or is it? I like to think it is a season of no visible growth. You may not see leaves sprouting on a tree, but the roots…the roots are growing stronger in the soil. Without strong roots the new growth that will come in the spring would not last. The same can be said about us. Winter is a time to lean into the warmth of God when we can’t find the warmth ourselves. It is a time to cling onto his promises, even when you can’t see how it’s going to work. It is a time to dream, because with God all things are possible. Some could find little hope in a season of death, but I find great hope in this season because after every winter there is always the hope of a spring. The night is always the darkest before the dawn. Winter may be the darkest moments in life, but without tasting the bitterness life has to offer us, we can never truly taste the goodness and sweetness. If you have never tasted salt, would you know how sweet sugar is? “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” Winter may be painful, but it is a time of healing and rest.
One of my favorite lines from the band Switchfoot is “The shadows proves the sunshine.” When you see a shadow it only proves that there is light somewhere. You may not see the light, but it is there. You can try to deny the light, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. The song concludes,
“Yeah, yeah, shine on me – shine on me – let my shadows prove the sunshine”
As you go through the seasons, no matter which season is your favorite, may your shadows prove the source of your light. We are not the light of the world. We are merely shadows of the Light of the World. May you enjoy this autumn season. A time to reflect on the wonder of God. A time of thanksgiving for all the blessings you have. Next time you put on your sweatshirt and smell the warmth of your cup of pumpkin chai latte, reflect a little. Who knows what you may find in that still moment.
