Columnar
rays of the setting sun reflect ice crystals in thin wispy cirrus clouds,
giving way to early darkness that now follows us home in the shadows. A cold October rain and
bitter wind brings down spiraling autumn leaves overnight. The harsh sound of intermittent
tapping on a window pane disturbs the subconscious to restless sleep.
And
the chilly anticipation of that first freeze as we awaken in the faint light of
a frosty morning evokes a slow shudder throughout the body.
As I glance out of my upstairs
office window this morning, my eye catches red splashes of color on the outer
fringes of the maple tree that I planted twenty-five years ago, envisioning
such a sight for this year. The annual
season of letting go is once again upon us.
If we’re paying attention, nature has much to teach us about life. There’s a lot of reasons we hold onto things,
primarily procrastination. But mother earth
and the maple tree wait on no man and are preparing to cycle through another
circle of life. Man gathers in the fall,
but nature scatters wild things such as seeds and colorful autumn leaves.
I’ve always liked the analogy of a legacy which compares planting a tree under which you may never receive comfort from its shade on a hot summer’s day. But today, I’ve received the blessing of the tree I planted and nursed all these years extending its outer branches to me clothed in a rich autumn burgundy. A southerly breeze rustles the tree branches and sets the leaves into a gentle shimmering motion.
Overnight temperatures have now started to lower along with less daylight which triggers the tree to slowly begin the process of leaf abscission in anticipation of colder weather to follow. This time is literally the fourth quarter in the life of a solitary leaf and its also the best time of its life when it shows its true colors. As the green chlorophyll withdraws, the aging leaves display their maturity and true inner beauty. The leaves have been anchored to the symbiotic tree and have survived the complete cycle of life while enduring extremes of temperature, high winds, violent storms, and endless days of processing sunlight, water and carbon dioxide for the common good.
The time soon arrives when the autumn leaves are finally released from the bondage of mother earth. The free-falling autumn spirits joyfully soar in spiraling wind gusts and run with the cars along banked streets. They’re gathered in piles along urban lawns while laughing children and their four-legged companions excitedly jump into them. The spirits of autumn enjoy their celebration of life.
We human souls are inextricably connected to
our bodies and are spiritually informed as long as the body actively thrives on
this planet. And as with the autumn spirits, we must die to this life so that the
beauty of our inner soul may be set free to soar into the next, while our
natural bodies return to stardust.
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A student once asked anthropologist Margaret Mead what she thought was the first sign of civilization, expecting the emergence of clay pots or grinding stones. Mead didn’t mention these basic creations but the discovery of a healed thigh bone. It was evident that this long-deceased person had experienced a deadly injury that would have most certainly ended their life. But someone carried them to safety and nursed the individual back to health to thrive again.
Mead said that “helping someone else
through difficulty is where civilization starts.” When Jesus was challenged about which was the
most important commandment of the over 600 Jewish commandments at the time, he
simply asked us to “love God and love others”.
The prophet Micah wrote in 700 B.C.
that God has shown us what is good. And
his expectation for us is to be just, kind and humble. We human beings are at our best when we help
one another. Especially those who are
marginalized and those who are the victims of tragedies that are beyond
comprehension such as war, inhumane acts of violent people and extreme episodes
of nature like devastating hurricanes, tornados, wild fires, etc. Those challenging times provide the arena for
demonstrating that we still have the capacity for being civilized.
