 |
| Photo by Annie Nyle on Unsplash |
Standing in the sun room, my bare feet warmed by heat radiating from the Spanish tiles that had been absorbing the sun’s rays all morning through the windows just above, I gazed out and couldn’t help but think that summer seems to go by faster and faster with each passing year. My mother, (laughingly), told me some time back, “Rebecca it feels like that because you’re getting older!” There is some truth to that; I remember as a little girl it felt like time would just d-r-a-g on and on for what seemed like forever, leaving me consumed with the urge to hurry in order to not miss out on ANYTHING, yet as an adult I’ve found that time does seem to pass by just a bit faster each year, leaving me longing for it to slow down…if even the smallest bit, so as not to miss even one precious moment of anything. Of course, here in South Florida, it is a bit harder to differentiate seasons as they approach, due to the fact that there are no Autumn leaves, nor that particular “feel” the night air gets this time of year, when the coolness causes the air to feel somehow – cleaner. Most I notice an absence of the scent in the air itself that seemed to come with Fall during the years I lived in Alabama, which was the faint aroma of chimney smoke that drifted in the evening breeze.
Autumn was always a time of
fascination and enjoyment growing up. I can remember as a child going into the
woods, with all of the many colored leaves covering the ground like a woven
patchwork quilt. When the wind would begin to pick up, the trees produced a
sound much different than what you would hear in the summertime when they were
full of their foliage. It was more of a haunted moaning, with echoed sounds
that would pierce the lonesome silence of the forest, as their upper trunks
bent with the shifting breeze, capturing the remaining leaves that had not yet
fallen to blanket the ground that eagerly awaited them.
What interests me is “why” Fall
occurs. You know, there actually is a reason for it and a purpose for why each
aspect of nature happens as it does. For instance, in the fall, trees stop
making chlorophyll and this causes the green leaves to fade, giving way to the
red, yellow, orange and browns of autumn. Late in this season, most of the
leaves of deciduous trees have fallen off. This happens because it is nature’s
way of protecting the tree during the winter months. In the winter, trees get
very little water through their roots. If the leaves were to remain, the water
would then escape as water vapor through the
leaves. This way the tree conserves water and thus stays alive.
Interesting, how much of our lives are reflected in
the world around us, or better yet, how much the world around us reflects
“life.” Just as the autumn winds usher in the changes of Fall, so do the winds
of circumstantial change in
our lives. We all are placed in circumstances from time to time that cause us
to go through a variety of changes and growth in areas such as: Gratitude,
Humility, Surrender, Acceptance and Forgiveness. Part of this process operates
on much the same premise as the leaves that are shed from the trees during the
fall. Circumstances cause our defects of character and shortcomings to rise to
the surface ~ (Those things that we’ve held onto so
tightly; that allowed us to cover up the areas of our lives that we didn’t want
others to see). If we allow the recovery process to take its
natural course, those defects and shortcomings will then begin to fall away
from us. Much like that late Fall wind that blows through the almost barren trees,
causing a creaking and lonesome howl, so too does that wind of change as it
blows across our exposed “self,” after having allowed those things that once
covered us and made us appear somewhat bigger, stronger and unaffected than we
really were, too fall away.
But although this moment can be
most uncomfortable, a much greater purpose is being served! Without being
barren, the trees could face destruction and even death, due to their need to
absorb and retain water through their roots in order to survive winter. This
same process is necessary in our own lives. Many of the instinctual emotions
that make up our humanness, such as: Resentment, Fear, Pride and Sex – are also
laden with defects of character and shortcomings that cause us conflict and
pain, and which need removal. Were this to never happen, we could also face our
own destruction, and even death. By allowing the wind of healing recovery ~
Willingness, Honesty and Open-Mindedness ~ to blow over us, we are able to be
stripped of what hinders our spiritual growth, allowing our “roots” to not only
absorb life giving water, (Or, if you will, – a connection with God),
but to better retain those God-given qualities of Love, Patience, Tolerance,
Courage, Humility and Wisdom ~ that will sustain us through the difficulties
and challenges that lie ahead, causing us to achieve growth and become
stronger.
I love this journey and I am
humbled by the grace which has allowed the opportunity I’ve been given to
partake in it. While I am not “eager” for change, I am excited by the
blessings I know will come as a result of
it.
©2009-2021 Rebecca Balko
