Fall in Indiana is often the most beautiful season of the year. The leaves, which have been rehearsing for several weeks, put on their very brightest costumes and give us an incredible performance of color right before they exit the stage. Kind of odd, really, giving us their very best — almost teasing us into thinking there is even more to come, and then they exit the stage. They leaf!! They fall away, on to their next shape and purpose.
Author Lauren DeStefano describes it like this:
“Fall has always been my favorite season. The time when everything bursts with its last beauty as if nature had been saving up all year for the grand finale.” —Lauren DeStefano
There is so much beauty in the autumn — and there are life lessons that we can learn from this fickle season.
The most obvious lesson would be that sometimes we have to let go. We can’t keep doing what we did before. We are beautiful — we look great, but we can’t keep it up. All good things must end, and we have to let it go, and let it fall.
Within the cycle of life there comes a time to let go and release those things that no longer serve us. Human nature encourages us to hold tightly to things and yet Fall teaches us how to transition and surrender.
All too often we cling to the past, hold our wounds tightly and get fixed and locked down with certain habits or mindsets. Life is much happier and easier when we can flow, surrender, and let go. Like a beautiful leaf dancing down to the ground.
When trees lose their leaves, it is both sad and beautiful, painful and necessary, morbid and inevitable. Every fall, nature goes through a melancholic transition and says goodbye to the cheerful summer version of itself. Yet, it lets go without regret and welcomes the change
Fall reminds us of the impermanence of life. It reminds us that change is inevitable! There are so many times that we have to adjust to change throughout our lifetime, you would think we would be experts at it. But most of us aren’t. We dig in our heels and resist change.
Maybe the universe is working with us and offering us a new place, a new person, a new opportunity and we don’t even know it. Maybe God has placed someone in our life to guide us and we aren’t willing to accept their advice or suggestions.
The fall shows us that everything in life is fluid and changing, and in order to move forward, we need to embrace change. Nature’s seasons are a beautiful metaphor for our lives.
The Bible reminds us:
“To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven.” — Ecclesiastes 3:1
The seasons move us from the beauty of fall to the despairing look of bare trees and dull skies, to the rebirth of spring and the warmth of summer.
This happens to us as well. Not every change in our lives is positive. A period of transition almost always involves pain and crisis. But only when we learn to accept a new phase in our life, can we realize that change is usually for the better.
My oldest son just got a new job. After three years of working from home, he is thrilled to have a job that requires him to go to the office at least part of the week.
In a recent phone conversation, he told me he was viewing this job change as a chance to change some other aspects of his life, including his home office. He is redecorating and moving furniture around in his office so he has a fresh view of the world as he gets ready for the next phase of his life.
Now back in the old days — even older than me — when our ancestors lived in true harmony with nature, they celebrated significant points in the cycle of the year. Some of the biggest celebrations were devoted to the harvest.
The fall season is the time when we gather the harvest of our work during the year. This can become for us a time of summing up the results of our work and evaluating our accomplishments in all aspects of our lives. We don’t need to wait until New Year’s Eve to think about what we did or did not accomplish, we can sit with the falling leaves and take stock in where we are, what we have done, and what we need to do differently.
Often when we assess, look over what we have done, we realize we have made much more progress than we thought. We are able to see how far we’ve come. And seeing that progress gives us hope. Maybe we are learning a new skill and we realize we are doing better than we thought. Maybe we are creating something and it’s turning out way better than we thought.
Just as summer t-shirts are replaced by fall sweatshirts, we know that inevitably, winter coats will appear. Fall reminds us to get ready. Get ready to move inside for longer periods of time. Get ready to mow the grass for the last time, say goodbye to the weeds that have pestered us all summer, and get ready for chili and cider and books and bonfires. Getting ready can be a cleansing process. It can be a time to unload items in our homes that we really don’t need to keep. It can be a time of rearrangement.
In the days ahead the beautiful October leaves will take their curtain call and prepare to fall gently to the ground. What if we could hear the thoughts of a beautiful autumn leaf? And what if we could identify with these feelings?
It’s my turn. I’m terrified yet curious to know what my next adventure holds.
Where will I land? Will it hurt to fall?
What’s next for me? It’s inevitable. I will fall.
Wait, I feel like I’m floating. It’s liberating.
It’s freeing. It’s exhilarating.
I love it. And I don’t want it to end.
As I coast to my new home, a bed of many autumn leaves, I close my eyes and bask in the feeling I just experienced.
WOW! Why was I so terrified? That was incredible!
I don’t know about you, but I can certainly identify with those feelings. I have stood at the threshold of change shaking with fear, and then wondered why I was ever frightened. I bet many of you have felt that same feelin
My friends, the fall is not an end. It the start of the next phase. Let’s get ready for what is coming. Amen.
Artist Vincent Van Gogh wrote: “As long as autumn lasts, I shall not have hands, canvas, and colors enough to paint the beautiful things I see.” — Vincent Van Gogh
Let’s drink in the beauty of October while we can, my friends. And then, let’s get ready for the next season, the next phase, the next opportunity.
Have a great Sunday, and go in peace. Amen.
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