Terry’s Take… Autumn Reflections (1)
Ever since I was young, Autumn has been my favorite season. There’s something nostalgic about the scents of autumn, the foliage with rich changing colors, the foods and holidays, traditions like apple picking and leaf piles, and cooler weather after a hot summer. Joseph Rhea, director of ministries for Soma Church, has written an article for The Gospel Coalition reminding us of the promises of autumn, titled Autumn: Dying Beautifully.
Rhea calls Christians to remember these 3 things about autumn:
1. Autumn Refreshes Us with New Wonder
Spring brings its own beauty to the world, and it’s a relief to see green and new growth after a long, harsh winter. Then spring morphs into summer, and after a while green becomes the new normal. It’s not necessarily that we get tired of green, but in a way we get used to it. Rhea explains,
“There’s nothing wrong with the leaves. It’s me: repetition inoculates me against wonder. Like G. K. Chesterton says, I don’t have God’s capacity to delight again and again at each new leaf. He keeps unfurling them—they even wave to get my attention!—but the eyes of my soul glaze over.
“In autumn, the creativity of God hollers. Look at these things! These paper-thin solar cells that convert sunlight into acorns! They’re everywhere, and they’re made by a God who, as N. D. Wilson reminds us, doesn’t know how to stop creating. Autumn reminds us that there’s a world of wonder.“
2. Autumn Reminds Us of the Promise of Glory
In our culture, we see glory in youth and newness. Aging is looked upon with a wary and skeptic eye. “We are spring-and-summer,” people as Rhea comments. But we can learn from change; Rhea shares,
“My parents’ leaves are starting to change. Their color is silver rather than red, but the glory is the same. They may not have quite the same speed on the Frisbee field. But they have wisdom and grace and decades of joy that shine in their faces. They’re taking on the beauty of autumn, showing dimensions of glory that my green summer-self doesn’t display.”
2. Autumn Prepares Us for Winter’s Coming
Inevitably, autumn’s beauty and wonder fades into winter’s chilled silence. Autumn doesn’t stay; it fades and falls away just like the leaves on the trees. Rhea expounds, “Autumn reminds us that our leaves too will die. The curse we inherited from our father-tree Adam means we have our seasons and then we go. Winter takes us all.”