As we find ourselves in the midst of midterm examinations, I can't help but notice that the leaves are finally turning- signaling the arrival of fall. It struck me just the other day how often we take the seaons for granted. Now, I am very much a person who prefers cold weather with a few warm days interspersed, as well as mild summers not getting above 70 degrees; but, as I was walking around Grounds the other day, it occured to me just how much we actually do need the different seasons and how much God wants us to notice them and appreciate them for what they are.
For most of us, Autumn is the time when the summer's bountiful crop is harvested and stored for the coming winter. It is the culmination of months of work in preparation of months where we work very little. It is also a time when thanks is given for our needs being met. As career oriented people and students, I think we forget the right we have to take time for ourselves - time to appreciate what is around us, time to seek the presence of God in the world around us.
Even in the smallest twig, the tiniest ant, the largest stone, and in the morning dew collecting on the grass as we stumble out of bed towards the coffee pot, is the spirit of God. In the changing colors of fall, God reminds us of the beauty and diversity of the world. He shows us how the rest of creation exists in a cyclical harmony with one another, that there is truth in the beauty of it all and that he through all of this, he is calling us (like a slightly off key note) back into that harmony: to recognise in ourselves the need for rest, knowing that there is a time for work, but that in the sometimes chaotic nature of daily life, we always are always surrounded by beauty and God's presence.
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