Mike’s Musings ….
The Leaves Are Falling
I’ve enjoyed seeing pictures of God’s handiwork! Even one like me who is color blind can see the radiance of God’s design when the leaves change color, and the autumn season displays its beauty. But soon those leaves loosen their attachment to their respective trees and float gently to the ground. Some spend hours raking them into piles to be discarded in some humus pile or burned to ashes. Either way, there is little left of their once glorious nature. Instead, the nakedness of trees coupled with the unmuffled creaking of their limbs bespeaks what most realize will be the crispness of winter’s blast.
The four seasons of climate are much akin to the seasons of life: we spring forth into life, and within a brief time, actively engage the heat and burden of the days, only to realize the ebbing of vitality and beauty, to go into the cold and lifeless span from the body came (Ecclesiastes 12:7; Job 14: 1- 2; Psalm 90:10). While some will despair about the seasons, realizing darkness and often gloom is associated, few if any complaints arise about the process of aging! My grandmother used to say, “No one should complain about getting old; too many are denied the privilege.” True indeed! And just as true is the fact few prepare to grow old righteously! They live as though the sunshine of their lives will never end, only to be shocked when the reality of nature diminishes their youth and presents the nearness of death.
Yes, the seasons teach us a great deal about life itself. While I’m not as eager to experience fall and winter as I am for spring and summer, neither am I as eager to accept the sunset of life as opposed to the coming forth of life and youth! Perhaps that’s why we grandparents adore the youthfulness of our grandchildren. They soon grow too old for us to cuddle in our arms and before we are ready, they reach an age independent from our yet desired involvement in their lives.
Yes, the leaves are falling. For far too many souls, the leaves of life will keep falling, soon drying to a brittle conclusion, and are discarded from every opportunity to obey the gospel and prepare for eternity with God. I muse on that fact more and more each day! What more can be said or done to reach them, prove to them the need to obey God and rid themselves of sin, and live faithfully until the winter of their earthly life engulfs their bodies from all abilities to hear, believe, and obey? Oh, that THEY would muse as we do, and realize that no one is prepared to die until they have first prepared to live!