Changes
Fall has taken hold of the world that surrounds us, and summer seems like a distant memory that is forgotten with each falling yellowing leaf from the trees. The drop in temperature coinciding with the drop in leaves serves as a firm indicator that the autumn months are fully upon us. The smell of the first wood fire rising from a far off chimney prepares us for the chill that the oncoming winter is about to bring. A bit of our animalistic side emerges and gloomy days spurn us to retreat into hibernation until spring shows its warming face again. It is usually during this time of year that the air takes on a cool crisp characteristic that allows the faintest song to travel to the nearest ear with the most clarity. The earth is simply going through the changes of season that we see each and every year.
It is amazing that even in the simplest of things that God is constantly showing us the changing nature of life. Nature stands as a living testimony to the existence of God (Rom. 1:20), and we can see the power of God in all living things. However, the one universality of man that I see the most in the seasons where we live is that change is an inevitable, unavoidable, and mostly beautiful thing. The dropping of leaves is a beautiful process that is quite morbid. To prepare for winter, a tree must reserve its sap to the most critical parts of the tree. As the weather begins to cool the tree reacts by withdrawing its resources from the leaves forcing them to die. This death results in the orange, red, and yellow leaves that are so synonymous with fall weather. The tree has to forfeit its indicator of life (green leaves) to survive, and as a result produces one of the most beautiful shows in all of nature.
We are so afraid of change as human beings. We become set in our ways of thinking that certain things should be done in certain ways. When we do no to see them done in that way, we begin to fidget and fuss to all those around us with the aim of returning things to the way that we are most comfortable with. We do not like change because it makes us uncomfortable. However, we must remember for the tree must make the decision to change temporarily in order to survive. Change is never an easy thing, but it can have beautiful results. The Ecclesiastical writer described change in the form of times (Ecc.3:1-8), and each of these changes contain its own form of beauty. We must open our minds to new ideas that come along that are not in contention with God’s word, and be uncomfortable for a while so that positive changes can be made.
