July 11, 2012 by Erin

Plot

So, I’m currently sitting outside enjoying what seems like the 100th day of 90 degree, sunny weather. Please read as much sarcasm as you can into the word “enjoy.” The only reason I’m outside is because Starbucks is closed and I’m using their free wi-fi anyway. I’ve been pretty miserable the last few weeks, and at this point I’d consider selling my car for a good thunderstorm. I wrote something two years ago that I was going to wait until this October to put on the blog, but lately I’ve been longing for autumn so badly that I’m going to pretend this is appropriate now. Think chilly thoughts.

I love fall. The colors, the smells, that certain kind of warmth you only feel on a chilly day when you’re wearing a sweater and the sun hits your back.

When I stop and think about it, I realize that it’s a strange season to love. It’s beautiful, yes, but really, in its essence, it is death. The gradual, beautiful, almost majestic fading of life. The orange and red of the leaves, so seemingly warm and bright, paradoxically signify the end of their growth and their impending separation from the tree. We are soon to enter the season of death.

And yet, life refuses to simply fade away. It goes out in a flare of color and beauty, “like shining from shook foil.” It is as if creation is saying, “I will not go quietly – my end will be more spectacular than my beginning.” Even more amazing is the underlying promise of new life, for every autumn carries the seeds of spring. Death is only temporary.

Perhaps God is speaking to us through the beauty of autumn, whispering in the crunching leaves. Though we face death on every side, though winter is certain, our lives don’t have to simply fade. As we walk with Jesus, the colors of our lives can and should grow more vibrant, evidencing a God who delights to bring beauty from dust. The end can be a glorious finale, a crescendo that points to an impossible, incredible truth: death is only temporary.