Leave. To depart, to exit, to migrate, to go away from, to
put in the rear view mirror, to part, to retire, to go on to something new.
Here's the odd thing I notice every year about the autumn.
Spring, summer, winter: these seasons arrive with a bang. They pull up to the
curb and bound out of the car and extend a hand and say, "Hello! Glad to
be back!" They show up, often very suddenly. In April on a miraculous morning
when the buds on the trees seem to have exploded forth overnight. In June when
sultry heat arrives and so we drag the air conditioner out of the attic and
prepare for the dog days. In December when the sky turns slate grey, and the
sun's rays are so diffuse and then we look up and notice the first white
flakes, lazily falling in circles to the cold ground.
But not fall. Fall is
about leaving.
Fall gets into the car and says to us, "It's time to
go. It's time to leave. Get in." Fall is always about leaving and leaves, of
course. Red and yellow and purple and orange and pink and brown. These spread
like a lush technicolor carpet over the mountains, circle a quiet suburban
backyard, hang from trees that bend over city streets. The leaves are so beautiful and yet we know that
even as we enjoy this amazing God show, the painting of Creation by the master
artist's hand, we know it is all temporary. That soon those same leaves will
leave. Fall to the ground. Decay into the soil or get sucked up by the legions
of leaf blowing landscapers who invade these parts every November.
Fall is about leaving.
I used to regret, push back against leaving. Who wants to
face into the loss of someone or something, this going away? A son or daughter
leaves for college and so even as we celebrate that rite of passage, we mourn
too, aware of how much we miss the sound of their voice, the footfall of steps
as they come down the stairs in the morning.
At the church I serve we recently gave leave to a couple who were
members of our community for more than fifty years. The Sunday we said goodbye
was bittersweet, filled with gratitude for all they had done for and among us, sure,
but grief too, at their departure. Who
wants to face into such goodbyes, such endings?
Not me! And yet....
We need the fall. We need to leave sometimes. We need
leaving in this life.
For the new cannot arrive until the old has made way for
it. A new relationship cannot bloom
forth unless we have made peace somehow with the old relationship, the one who
is no longer with us. For children to grow up and into the world they will
inherit, we adults must know when to hand over such responsibility, say to them,
"It is yours' now. Take good care of it." For the sweet promises of next spring and
summer to come true we have to first welcome the fall, and finally close the
door on last spring and summer. Pack those seasons up and put them away in the
attic so that when all is ready, they can come back out and play next year.
Yes, there is a wisdom to autumn and to leaving.
So as we move into shorter days and chillier temperatures, as
the animals rush to collect forage for the winter, as the geese fly overhead
and head south in a cacophony of honks, my prayer is that we can all lean into our
natural and personal leave takings with grace and with care. That we can be
grateful in the midst of leaving, for the times that are going away and the
times that are coming, just up ahead. In
our leaving may we be thankful to our God for the people who come into our
lives and bless us, but then have to depart.
So welcome autumn. It's time to leave.
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