As the colors of the glorious fall season begin to fade, nostalgia begins to set in as the coldness envelops us. With each autumn, there is also a slight sadness, a difficulty to fully enjoy the present because of the approaching winter. Although the winter season is a lot more extreme in many other places than where I live, I still experience the slight dullness and grasping for past and future seasons. I cannot ignore the spiritual significance of the colorful fall spectrum leading to a grayer, darker, coldness. It is a call for me again to live in the present, to experience what God has for me in the moment, knowing that their is a warmer and more life-filled spring ahead.
A book that Bob read for class, Letters to a Young Therapist by Mary Pipher, describes it perfectly :
"Fall is really the season of yearning. At the same time we're aware of the earth's fiery glory, we're aware of its passing and the approaching winter. We yearn to stop time, to make our lives an endless Indian summer. But the message of autumn is to accept what is given. What's coming next may be harder. "
As part of the advent season, Bob and I are lighting advent candles and reflecting on what each of them stands for. This first week is hope, which is very fitting. How often I am afraid of hope, afraid to be disappointed that I will not get what I have hoped for. Hope is often a daring decision, belief that God has something for me--is really doing something in both the difficult and the joyous. And that, although it may be a long and cold winter, there will be a spring.
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