Autumn Awareness

What if the fall season didn’t happen and it just jumped from summer to winter? Would that make you sad? It would make me sad, because we would completely miss out on the beautiful transformation that takes place in nature every year. Specifically every autumn we see the colorful leaves on the trees as they change red, orange and yellow.

Life is like that, changes take place, and things come and go. Personally we engage with what we think is important and exciting, we get stronger and become better people while at the same time some transformation is not always as positive. At times we go through very dry times, or we may feel like we are in a farmers maze because life seems crazy and confusing and we feel like we are lost.  However, the vibrant colors of fall can get us excited just like the potential in our lives even if it means challenging incidents or a change in the next chapter of our lives!

The autumn season can be looked at as a season of spiritual restoration that brings us into a deeper awareness that we live in a continual cycle of dying and rising. Christine Valters Paintner shared in one of her articles that autumn’s gifts reflect this balance between two energies: the invitation to relinquish and to harvest. Autumn is a season of paradox that invites us to consider what we are called to release and surrender….what no longer serves us or what gets in the way of being present to the holiness of each moment. Autumn also invites us to gather in the harvest, to name and celebrate the fruit of the seeds of dreams we planted months ago. In holding these two in tension, we are reminded that in our letting go, we also find abundance.

Peter a disciple of God had an account of restoration that changed his life for the better. At first he denied knowing Jesus Christ but later he was remorseful that he had done such a thing and understood how frail we are and that as a human race we can easily fall. There is also the understanding that we can be beautifully restored just like when spring comes along…the beginning of new life starts and nature’s growth begins. We too can have our souls transformed and restored, if we are open to the changes that God wants to do in our lives. Paul was also a great example of a changed life (Acts 9:1-19 & Galatians 1:11-16).

The fall season can be busy, but it can also be a great time for reflection a slowing down and more meaningful times to give thanks and celebrate as the days get shorter and the nights get longer.

Will you take time to reflect and experience an autumn awareness in your own life?

http://www.gotquestions.org/life-Peter.html

http://www.gotquestions.org/Bible-transformation.html