Seasonal Reminders

God's Colorful Artistry

As Autumn descends upon us, those of us in the Midwest and East enjoy watching God’s glorious symphony of color.  The leaves on our deciduous trees have burst into vivid shades of yellow, orange, and red before turning brown and cascading to the ground.  As branch after branch sheds its leaves, oftentimes there will be one single leaf still clinging, refusing to let go, even as it flutters in the crisp breeze.  These beautiful seasons can be a reminder that our spiritual lives, too, can have ‘seasons’.  Each day, for that matter, can bring with it an entire year of ‘seasons’, through which God can fashion ~ or rather, refashion ~ us.  Like these trees, full of green leaves in the Spring and Summer, the minute we are confronted with what feels like a sudden change of temperature around us, a bright yellow passion can quickly stem from within, turning into a brilliant orange and then fiery red.  And as St. Francis de Sales tells us, if we do not quickly look at Jesus in these moments and ask Him for help, our passions can burst into a monumental firework display. But if we turn to Him promptly and focus our attention on Him, and not on our thoughts or feelings, His calming Love will flow into our hearts, and He will help us respond in love or remain silent, even while the “inferior part of our soul” flares within us.  Only over time ~ with habitual effort, grace, and perseverance ~ will each passion, each leaf, detach from the branch of our self-love and fall to the ground.  This divesting of self-love can leave us feeling exposed and vulnerable; but if we wait in the silence and stillness of winter, even if that winter lasts but a few hours, we will eventually feel the tender rays of the Sun again and, with it, a rebirth arising until one day, we will flourish in the courts of our God, still bearing fruit, still green, proclaiming that The Lord is upright. (Ps 92)