As September Ends
Last Saturday I wrote briefly about the change in colors going on all around us in the northern climates. They are now predicting a major cold front to come across the state on Friday with temperatures plummeting into the low 30s. We have had a remarkably warm month, but the truth is, especially in Minnesota, those warm temps are about to fall. There will be warm days still. There will be the lingering feeling that if we just wish hard enough it will stay like this until March- and then warm up.
But we know better.
The colors I talked about last week are now changing some more. The gold of the bean fields is now a light, but dull rusty tan. The maroons of the sumac have deadened. The trees will follow soon in a burst of energy, but it is only for a passing.
But the one thing that I think of every single fall is that when faced with death- their own death and the death of everything around them- the leaves show their true colors. I learned this scientifically years ago. The actual color of the leaves is what we see in the fall after the leaves have stopped producing their chlorophyll. That green has been a covering, a mask- although a useful and essential mask. The green represented the life-giving forces in and around the leaves. The green showed that they were producing oxygen and providing for the growth of the tree.
Now their work is accomplished. Well done, good and faithful leaves. You have done as you were called and appointed to do. Take a moment before the end to relax. Stop the chlorophyll production. You have nothing left to do. Enjoy the last moments in the golden autumn sun.
Relax they do- and the true colors hidden beneath the green shine forth. No, often they burst forth. A maple in our backyard, one of the last to turn, will look like captured sunshine well into October. It is a show-off among the trees. Look at me, see me- I am a creation of the Creator who has given me beauty- wonderful beauty- even in death.
When faced with death, perhaps, we as humans may also show our true colors. Whether it is first the death of a loved one, our reactions show what we are made of. When going through the grief process that may accompany our own deaths, there, too, is the strength of who we truly are. It is worth pondering what kind of colors I will show when those times come, as they have in the past, are happening now, and one day will come to an end.
Perhaps the words of Job are appropriate:
The Lord gives, the Lord takes away.More to come.
Blessed be the name of the Lord.