The shear weight of gravity.
It happened so quietly and peacefully and yet made me lift my head and think deeply. Why did it fall now? A single vibrant autumn leaf falling quickly from the three branches cut from that tree in our front yard now finding its' home on a table in our house. It brushed the wall on its way down and tapped the floor. It's sound was strangely noticeable on an early, foggy, quiet morning.
There was no wind in our house of course. No squirrel shaking those skinny branches. It just did. Did fall at that moment. The shear weight of gravity. It couldn't hold on any longer.
In the moment that followed as I wondered why that leaf fell then, I realized that I am like the branches. There are things I want to hold onto that I just simply can't. I follow the same rhythms as nature. I am created by a wonderful Creator just like the stars in the sky and the leaves on the trees.
Sometimes we don't notice those leaves falling. Gusts of wind comes and we know they will be carried off into the soft grass. Other days, there's not trace of movement and still that leaf can't hold on any longer. It must let go. There's no more water for that leaf. The cold months are coming.
My emotions are mixed- foggy like the early morning outside. Relief and guilt. Sadness and anger. Confusion and confidence. I feel the weight of Fall. It is the ending of summer, but it is also preparing the way for the beginning of spring. It just happens to be the one single leaf that fell that makes me so aware of all the other colorful leaves spread out on the grass around me.
Somehow I want to put those leaves back on the tree, but that cannot happen. Instead, nature calls forth new life. Tiny green buds will soon form and with sunlight and streams of living water, those buds will unfold into glorious new green leaves.
"He turns a desert into pools of water,
a parched land into springs of water.
And there he lets the hungry dwell
and they establish a city to live in;
they sow fields and plant vineyards
and get a fruitful harvest.
By his blessing, they multiply greatly,
and he does not let their herds diminish."
-Psalm 107: 35-38
There was no wind in our house of course. No squirrel shaking those skinny branches. It just did. Did fall at that moment. The shear weight of gravity. It couldn't hold on any longer.
In the moment that followed as I wondered why that leaf fell then, I realized that I am like the branches. There are things I want to hold onto that I just simply can't. I follow the same rhythms as nature. I am created by a wonderful Creator just like the stars in the sky and the leaves on the trees.
Sometimes we don't notice those leaves falling. Gusts of wind comes and we know they will be carried off into the soft grass. Other days, there's not trace of movement and still that leaf can't hold on any longer. It must let go. There's no more water for that leaf. The cold months are coming.
My emotions are mixed- foggy like the early morning outside. Relief and guilt. Sadness and anger. Confusion and confidence. I feel the weight of Fall. It is the ending of summer, but it is also preparing the way for the beginning of spring. It just happens to be the one single leaf that fell that makes me so aware of all the other colorful leaves spread out on the grass around me.
Somehow I want to put those leaves back on the tree, but that cannot happen. Instead, nature calls forth new life. Tiny green buds will soon form and with sunlight and streams of living water, those buds will unfold into glorious new green leaves.
"He turns a desert into pools of water,
a parched land into springs of water.
And there he lets the hungry dwell
and they establish a city to live in;
they sow fields and plant vineyards
and get a fruitful harvest.
By his blessing, they multiply greatly,
and he does not let their herds diminish."
-Psalm 107: 35-38
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