A New Take on Autumn

We drove over to the coast on Halloween and enjoyed the rich colors of the changing seasons. I remembered our trees in Grants Pass; great big deciduous trees that shaded us in the summer and dropped their leaves, providing much-needed, mood-lifting light in the winter. And I realize what an incredibly creative God we have that He even thought of deciduous trees. I'm sure I never would have come up with that concept.

As we drove home Halloween night, though there was little wind, the leaves rained down on us the entire way. In the following week, I watched as the leaves quietly dropped off the maple tree in our back yard. As some unseen force was calling them downward little by little, the blanket of leaves on the ground beneath became thicker. Then today, when I looked outside, there was a mighty, rushing wind that came to finish the job. I was reminded of a Keith Green song from decades ago--in fact, this was the song Arden sang as we walked out of the sanctuary when G and I were married. (Rushing Wind)

And I think about my life in God, how very much it is like a deciduous tree. All the ways of thinking I learned throughout life that were not God's ways of thinking; all the selfish habits I acquired; every aspect of my behavior, my thinking, my speaking, my attitudes--all of these are leaves on the tree that is ME. And over the last decades, dead leaves have been falling little by little, one by one, coaxed to the ground as I let go of this or that and trust God that He knows better. But I am so READY for that rushing wind to come and strip my branches of those final leaves, to lay me bare. I'm prepared for that season of rest, that season of death, when everything I have known will be redefined....what some people would call the "desert" or the "wilderness"... as the sap falls, and the tree just waits, helpless. This is the season when pruning takes place; when the branches are easy to see and wounds and scars can be mended or cut away. It is THIS season when the Master's hand can form the tree to fit His vision and His purpose.

And then, Spring will come. Buds will form, leaves will open and the tree, now wearing a shawl of green, will reach to the sunlight, the source of all its life. Daily converting the sunlight into energy, the tree will grow and provide shade and sanctuary, and maybe even a limb for a tire swing.

And the leaves that had fallen the previous autumn, during the rain and cold of the winter, while the tree was sleeping, have become soil around the tree's roots, providing nutrients and mulch and an environment for other plants to grow--flowers and grass--just as our wounds and our old selves provide a connection to and empathy for those who are hurting.

So come, Holy Spirit, and scour my limbs of the clinging dead leaves. Come, Father, and prune away all that is in me that does not bear fruit. Come, Jesus, sun of my soul, and be my source of life. I will be still this Winter, enjoy my rest, and await Spring with hopeful anticipation.

"Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue, but with actions and in truth." (1 John 3:18)


Rushing Wind (Keith Green)

Rushing wind blow through this temple,
Blowing out the dust within,
Come and breathe your breath upon me,
I've been born again.

Holy Spirit, I surrender, take me where you want to go,
Plant me by your living water,
Plant me deep so I can grow.

Jesus, you’re the one, who sets my spirit free,
Use me Lord, glorify, your Holy Name through me.

Separate me from this world Lord.
Sanctify my life for you.
Daily change me to your image,
Help me bear good fruit.

Every day you're drawing closer.
Trials come to test my faith.
But when all is said and done Lord,
You know, it was worth the wait.

Jesus, you’re the one, who set my spirit free,
Use me Lord, glorify, your Holy Name through me.

Rushing wind blow through this temple,
Blowing out the dust within,
Come and breathe your breath upon me,
For I've been born again.