Thursday Thoughts (9/29/16)

There is always that one day each summers end that signals the changing of the season. On that day the air changes, temperatures start to drop, the blue of the sky seems to deepen, the clouds increase, and soon the grey of Michigan autumn falls across the sky. The leaves will hurriedly change color and drop as abruptly. Soon the earth will turn grey and brown, a sepia landscape, that reminds us that life is but a fleeting vapor.

The October rains move in, and folks will rush to put away the ornaments of summer that don their yards. They will rush to complete those summer end tasks that they pushed off in hopes of more time. Always hoping to thread out a little more summers warmth. Summer has passed. Autumn has come. Winter with its cold biting air offers only hope of soft white blankets of reminiscence.

Autumn is my favorite time of year. It is a melancholy time, where my thoughts drift to the memories of summer and the anticipation of donuts and cider, and thanksgiving gatherings. The air is cool and damp, leaves litter the landscape, and I am reminded of the things that have gone undone. Autumn is not just a season on the calendar but it is a season of aging.

Autumn does not seem to last very long. Winter reaches with it’s cold snowy fingers in hopes of shortening its days. In the autumn of our lives we may pine the summer days gone by, and sense the chill of winters grip pulling us forward. Yet, autumn does not mean we are yet done. In autumn there are those days where the cold damp winds blow and force us to stay inside. Then, there are those sunny crisp days that invite us out into the world to enjoy its beauty and fill us with fresh life again.

Perhaps our autumn does not last so long either. In my life I have sensed those changes in the air. Winter is no longer so far off, it is not close, but I am closer. The days are growing shorter and as I look back I see there are many things that have gone undone. Dreams, wishes, desires, and much more. Time has passed and autumn has come. Yet, all is not finished. There are days to be lived, and times to be fulfilled.

Autumn, is a time to reminisce about the days gone by; however, it is also a time to remember that which we have set out to do. It is not a time to retire, but a time to live. To push ahead with urgency to complete the task before winter comes. Oh, some will mourn the passing of the long summer warmth and settle in to their easy chair and retire from life altogether. This need not be the case.

For in the last days God tells us that he will pour out his Spirit on all flesh, men, women, and children, to dream dreams, and see visions, as to fulfill the work of the Lord. Yes, it is autumn, but it not yet winter. Perhaps, today is a day to look back and to ask of the Lord, “What must I accomplish before my winter comes?”

Just a thought.