Holding On

As the day begins to dawn the house is chilly. The day looks gray and the wind is stiff. The fields are covered in the vestiges of the year’s harvest. Brittle corn leaves huddle in corners and bramble and occasionally make their escape across road and grass to find safe harbor elsewhere. The time has changed giving dreams an extra hour and we relish warm sweaters and thick socks. It is autumn.

As I view the world beyond my refuge of blankets and little dogs an oak along the lane catches my attention. Still full of leaves, brown and brittle it shakes in the breeze. The leaves catch the wind and hold with stems fraught with tenacity and strength to remain one with the branch it has known for three seasons.

We too hold on to the seasons of life with mighty strength thinking this is the pinnacle of our existence. We hold on to the lives of others afraid of what life holds for us without them. Like the oak leaf what we have known holds us to what has been. Although life tries to take us beyond and transform us we remain steadfast not to be changed. God has another plan. Our souls and lives are blessed beyond what we know. Remaining upon the branch does not allow us to see what is to come and experience the next season God has for us. Despite all our strength our stems will fail and we will be blown into the field, along the fence line, or into the pond. But this is never an ending. It is a different life but is just as blessed. We move from life to life.

The promise for this day is sunshine and temperatures that bid the chill away. In this day may you see the unexpected blessings the God of all beauty and love has for you and let go!