There is an appointed time for everything.  And there is a time for every event under heaven - A time to give birth and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.  Ecclesiastes 3:1-2

Fall is here!  Cooler temperatures, crisp morning air, trees beginning to drop their leaves which float slowly down to the ground.  It won't be long before a palette of orange, yellow, and gold will burst all around us!  Autumn is my favorite season, but I know others for whom the gradual dying of nature is associated with loss and melancholy.
 
A friend once told me that the fall season reminds her of the death Christ experienced, and that even though this "time of dying" is absolutely beautiful, she struggles with feelings of sadness and is at a loss to explain why.  Conversely, she views the springtime as the season of Easter, the Resurrection, and new life abounding!
 
Yet, the author of Ecclesiastes, from the perspective of his own understanding, writes that God has ordered all things according to his own purposes, and that man's role is to accept these as God's appointments, a time for every event under heaven, even a time to die.
 
Because God created us, I believe God knew we would experience many ups and downs, seasons of "fall" in our lives.  Perhaps that is why God gave us the gift of glorious warm hues as a whole new sensual dimension.  The cyclical nature of the seasons is a slow continuum.  We can appreciate the autumn tapestry of beauty and accept the death of nature in the fall, even in the middle of days that seem to be "falling apart," because we know that spring will come once again. 

Prayer for Today

Omnipotent God, guide us and help us to seek you in the seasons of our lives.  Help us to always find renewed hope in the awe-inspiring beauty of autumn, the assurance of your love for us in the dark of winter, the magnificence of new life in the spring, and the warmth of heavenly sunlight in the summer.  Amen.