The Autumn of Faith (Letting Go)

Everywhere you look now you see the signs:  Pumpkin this or that…coffee, latte, donuts, etc.  It is always a welcome thing for me.  It means autumn is here.  I love the fall, my favorite season of the year.  When we lived in Colorado, I looked forward to the aspens turning a yellow that rivaled the sun.  When we lived in Atlanta, the maple leaves would turn a brilliant orange as the trees let go of them and the weather turned cooler.  Even here in south Florida, you can feel it.  It is much more subtle and summer will constantly keep trying to impose itself, but there is a quiet and gentle change in the air. 

I don’t know why autumn is my favorite season.  There is sadness in it.  The leaves that gave shade and beauty since spring must say goodbye.  They fall to the earth and give life in a new way…by dying.  Yet there is hope in autumn too.  As the last of the leaves give way, there is the possibility of new life, new growth, when the time is just right.  Though the leaves fall away, the roots of many trees have a spurt of growth to go deeper and stronger for winter.  Maybe that is why my heart sings with joy as autumn returns. 

It is true not just in the seasons of nature, but the seasons of life and faith. 

In 2 Corinthians Paul says this: “So then, if anyone is in Christ, that person is part of the new creation.  The old things have gone away, and look, new things have arrived.”  (2 Cor. 5:17)  The old leaves have fallen and there is beauty in that because it makes room for something new.  In so doing, the roots of our faith grow deeper and stronger.

This cannot be hurried, though, just as the leaves fall on God’s terms.  Autumn itself won’t let us rush ahead.  We must wait as the leaves fall and die.  We must grow deep as we say goodbye to the abundances that once defined our lives.  Then we must wait more as dormant days of winter leave a cold emptiness.  Then, at just the right time, new life emerges.  This is true in our personal lives.  It is true in our churches, too.

Autumn is beautiful because of the future it holds, but there is more.   There is beauty in the dying, the falling away, and the letting go, and the roots growing deeper and stronger.  Perhaps the leaves are the most brilliant in their orange and yellow farewell.  As we let go of things in life, as we die to self and surrender to God, maybe it is then that we are the most beautiful.  It is the moment of dependence on the One bigger than self.  It is the moment our lives shine as brilliant as the fall leaves…and we slowly begin to live. 

This fall, ask yourself these questions:  what do I need to let go of for God?  Where do I need to die to self?  So that my life will be as brilliant as the fall leaves! 

Together we are the hands and feet of Jesus,

Brett