THE SEASON OF CHANGE

It is apparent that autumn is rounding the corner, as the leaves are beginning to turn and the corn and beans are showing signs of impending harvest!  Schools are back in session and its a new year of routine and expectations for everyone.  The summers are filled with activities and long days...and we dread thinking of what comes after the fall season--cold, snow, ice and short days with darkened evenings.

Being at the lake alot this summer, and seeing nature from the water...sets my mind to contemplation.  The two most beautiful scenes are the sunrise and the sunset--the beginning and the end of the day!  Our lives are like a day...we are born....a beginning...and all the events and memories come full circle to the end of the day!  Oh what joy when a child is born!  The springtime of growing, developing and maturing...opening up to the fullness of beauty...to finally begin to change...and anticipate the harvest.  

We cry alot when there is death.  It seems so unfair, so final, and so stark in its stillness...compared to the love, warmth, smiles and joy of living.  I know, that death is only the beginning for those who love Christ! It is my belief that because of His Grace and Mercy--death is the doorway to the best the God Our Father has to offer us...yet sorrow sometimes overwhelms me.  To see one wither and age and go through loss of dignity, senses, intellect, and vitality is hurtful...even worse if its sudden, accidental or because of evil!  But I have resolved to think of birth as a sunrise and springtime...and  old age as the autumn of our souls...and death as the sunset...just the end of their day here on earth for the body...and springtime again for their souls!

  I think too much of what they should be doing here in this life--and not enough about how fantastic their sunrise was in Heaven! The most wondrous blessing is knowing that in God's Presence there is no sunset...the colors and beauty of that is present all the time...it never recedes into darkness!  There is no winter of darkness, coldness and fear!  Though I shall continue to think that if I wanted to enjoy the beauty of snow He would allow me that! Perhaps a winter wonderland with no slipping and accidents on ice?