Prayer of Autumn

Fall. Why do they call it that? I like the word, Autumn better. It has a more peaceful ring to it.

When Julie and I hiked Wawona Hotel to Wawona Point in Mariposa Grove, I was hoping to see some turning dogwoods. No such luck. They aren’t ready yet. By now, in Colorado, all the aspen have changed to golden and the crispy song they sing is now a faint memory as most of their leaves have fallen. The earth beneath laden with a blanket of yellow slowly changing to muddy brown. The trees are barren. They look dead. I remember how one could gaze out at the mountain landscape and see the huge groves of brown stick-like figures patching among the evergreen. Right now in Colorado the aspen’s life is over. The dogwood’s will come to an end soon.

Can you envision a leafless tree. It looks lifeless, doesn’t it?

When the branches of a tree are attacked by winter cold and wet, one wonders how it can survive. What makes it endure such hardship? Why doesn’t it give up?

I am no botanist, but I know that within the tree a miracle of life is taking place. Just as the light needs darkness to define it (from a philosopher’s point of view) resting periods are important in nature because they are times of refueling. Only when the cycle of life is allowed to take place, including the cold hard dead of winter, can the tree can fulfill its purposes. It may look dead on the outside but within the tree’s strength is growing, preparing it for a new season and new fruit.

I have never wanted to be an evergreen tree. I look forward to change. I always have. Stagnant isn’t my style. However, there have been enough cold hard dead of Winter seasons in my life that I have wondered if Spring would ever come. There are times in my humanness when I have yearned for the perpetual Spring and Summer, where the sun shines all day long and darkness is brighter even at night. Autumn always comes, however, and Winter follows it. I don’t get to choose when. I don’t even get to choose to give up.

As the tree holds on to Winter longing for the Spring, I hold on waiting in eager expectation for my season of renewal. I’ve done that many times. This year, however, I am waiting for the leaves of the brilliant dogwood to turn. This year, I look forward to Autumn’s fiery red leaves. This year, I am rejoicing in the season of life I am in. This year, I am in Spring.

What kind of tree are you? Deciduous or Evergreen? What is your favorite season to enjoy or to experience?