I love autumn.
The brisk temperatures.
The cozy sweaters and fuzzy socks.
The comfort food. I may not be real good about eating soups and chili and such during the summer but I do love that stuff when it starts to get cool. I guess I definitely have seasons for my food even if, having lived my whole life in the south, my fall and winter are short and barely there.
What I really love the most though are the colors. The amazing display that the foliage puts on each year just takes my breath away.
Years ago, as I was contemplating a particularly gorgeous autumnal exhibition by a Bradford pear tree, I connected the dots in a profound way that has stayed with me ever since.
The beautiful leaves with their colors that so delighted me were quite simply, dying.
Obviously, I knew the change of seasons, however limited my exposure, and I understood the science and mechanics of what was happening. But in that moment under that tree I realized it in a different way.
Every year since as I see the stunning colors of fall I am reminded of this truth..they are at their most beautiful in death.
The way of Christ is upside down from the way of the world but when we are faithful to His ways, when we are willing to be that living sacrifice, we are just like the leaves and gloriously beautiful in the way that only His people can be.
I think it is truly fitting that the rich bold colors are at their peak as we prepare for Advent, don’t you? A gracious reminder that while there is pain and suffering and even death, the Christ child who came bore it all for our sake.
The Common Place 