catapult magazine

catapult magazine
 

Vol 10, Num 20 :: 2011.11.11 — 2011.11.24

 
 

Hope of autumn

Florida doesn’t get much of an autumn season. A few cold days come, but they don’t linger. While people living up north drudge through periods of cloudy damp days, we are still sweating in our shorts and flipflops down here. The past few days, though, could be classified as perfect autumn days — days that I dream about during the hot, long summers. I wish these days would stick around until the real winter comes. We are in the thick of autumn months and it should be breezy and chilly. We should be wearing scarves, boots and jackets. Every day.

The melancholy of the autumn doesn’t work its way into my soul. In fact, the season has an opposite effect on me. The hope and promise pierce me with joy and the colder temperatures revive the drollness leftover by too many hot days. I head outside immediately when the temperature drops. As leaves fall to the ground to blanket their roots, I rise up and walk outside, shuffling my feet.

The evening light fades quickly now, and while it has a lethargic effect on most people, it invites me to head inside to cook some onion thyme soup to warm up. Harvest provides the bounty of vegetables I only get to enjoy this time of year, like squash and root vegetables. Acorn squash sprinkled with brown sugar and baked in the oven is a treat. Apples never taste better than in this season.

A time of thanksgiving approaches when we gather and eat the bounty and rejoice in one another’s company, with thankful hearts. And in some places, as the first snow falls, I will have these lines from William Cowper in my head as I dream about snow:

Earth receives
Gladly the thickening mantle, and the green
And tender blade, that feared the chilling blast,
Escapes unhurt beneath so warm a veil.

Seeing your breath in the air when it’s so chilled and quiet reminds us of our presence in nature — that we are a part of it, too, connected to all living things. We get to walk through the woods watching and listening to the changes of the season. We get to witness God’s creativity in the seasons He created. Appreciation swells inside me as I realize that all the seasons are used for the glory of God.

Likewise, all of the seasons of our lives can be used for the glory of God. We are told in Ecclesiastes 3 that there is a time for everything.  Whether we are in a season of joy, mourning, difficulty or growth, we can use that time to seek God. Wherever we are, God will listen and come near — an amazing gift, for which I’m truly thankful.

your comments

comments powered by Disqus