I find autumn so beautiful, and somewhat sad. It brings out the melancholy in me. Winter is coming.
We read from Henri Nouwen this morning, An optimist says, “The war will be over; your wounds will be healed; the depression will go away; all will be better soon. The optimist may be right, but unfortunately he or she may be wrong. For nor none of us can control our circumstances.. . . We follow One who is not limited or defeated by the world’s sufferings.” [Turn My Mourning into Dancing]
Before spring comes, winter happens. There is that interesting English phrase “Falling apart”. It is often in the letting go, in the acceptance of our weaknesses, that we are healed. This is a wholistic healing, of the mind, the spirit, the heart.
I’ve been re-reading my posts from 2013. The following post is dated October 13, 2013. I thought it was worth reposting.
Falling
We sat there on the bench, in the park.
Under the maple tree. It is one of our favorite parks in Vernon, just a little neighborhood park, and sometimes we dream we could own a place near there one day and enjoy this place with our grandchildren.
So we sat, in the sun, on a lovely Sunday afternoon, and just watched the leaves fall.
Silence our companion, mesmerized by the falling, the gently floating, the colorful leaves…
Which one would be next? I stared upwards, enjoying the dancing of the tree, this slow dance of fall, with the gentle release of leaves, one by one.
I knew it could be another story in a storm, a gale wind could take them all in a howling swirling sweep.
But this day was a gift, in the sun, just enjoying.
And I thought… Sometimes we have to fall… before we can truly live.
There are always lessons in nature… God does it so well.
And as we watched, and listened, I again realized that in the letting go… we are truly free. We hang on to life, to our dreams, to our so called entitlements so very fiercely… and inevitably we fall. We are not in control.
This faith, this God I trust, teaches that in our weaknesses lie the strength. In letting go, we live more fully. In surrender, we are free.
