“Notice that autumn is more the season of the soul than of nature.” –Friedrich Nietzsche–

______________________

Unforgettable Fall

by Debbie Allen

Every Fall my heart is lured into the unfailing beauty infused into every corner of creation this time of year.  This season enlivens my heart like no other!  Reds, golds, scarlets, and tinges of burnt orange invade the unsuspecting, green landscapes of the dying summer season without regret.  From cityscapes to mountainsides, to our own backyards, these bursts of unforgettable colors reveal themselves as a virtual feast of beauty for our eyes and our hearts to revel in.  I also sense a level of beauty on display in its midst, from which a silent message flows out into the world.  A message intended to awaken the soul.

Nearly a year ago, I sat warming my hands on a cup of coffee; watching an autumn breeze tugging leaf after leaf down from a Cottonwood tree in my backyard.  Seeing those leaves piling-up on the ground below reminded me of something my Grandmother always said when my brothers and I were kids. In the middle of helping her rake her yard every year; she would drop her rake and chase after us with handfuls of fallen leaves.  Then she’d sprinkle them down onto our heads, proclaiming, “Fall has fell and all is well!” 

Though her words brought back a flood of warm memories, as an adult, I knew there was no truth in them.  You see, in spite of the fact that Fall had fell… all wasn’t well.  As a writer, I found myself in a slump.  This particular season was filled with what I labeled, a lack of inspiration.   I’d written numerous pieces but, I either didn’t finish them or I filed them away for my eyes only.  What’s worse, I didn’t post one new story on my blog site for almost an entire year.  I simply laid my pen down and walked away for a time.  The trouble is, in doing so, I also walked away from what God has been calling me to do since childhood…to write. 

  Truthfully, this entire scenario came about because I succumbed to the lie being whispered into my spirit, that I wasn’t impacting this world with my words the way I thought I should be by now.  Thoughts like that don’t come from God.  They bear the marks of the enemy of my soul. The one who would do or say anything to keep me from pursuing the dreams God placed in my heart, before I was even born.  Dreams He graciously, coupled with the gift of writing words in this life that reflect the reality of God’s Presence in our world and His Infinite Love for humanity. God allowed me to wandered around in the dark woods of my own wrong-thinking for a time; before He stepped in and showed me something precious.  Something I’d lost sight of.  His Beauty and Purpose can still be found; even on a wayward path.

 One crisp, autumn morning, God drew my eyes up into the cottonwood trees in my own backyard.  I watched leaf after golden, leaf tumble down to the cold earth below.  Each leaf pulling away from the branch …the only source of life it had ever known. The longer the leaves laid on the ground, the browner and more withered they became.

“Who trades life in the heights, in the glory and warmth of the sun; for the sure death that awaits them below?” I asked myself, basking in the sunshine still streaming through the bay window. 

 Watching an even greater pile of leaves accumulating on the ground; imagine my surprise to hear God’s Voice whispering in my spirit; countering my random question with a question of His own. 

“Who will care for the fallen ones?”

 You could have heard a pin drop in the depths of silence that flooded my soul in that moment. In the next few seconds, God allowed the eyes of my heart to envision an abandoned, rake laying motionless on top of that pile of leaves I’d just watched fall to the ground. Then the words of Matthew 9:37 came marched across my mind.  “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.”

“The fallen ones,” I uttered, humbly realizing that the Lord was speaking directly to me.  Addressing the writer who’d abandoned her pen; and chose to sit idly-by in a season piled high with Humanity’s own fallen ones.  It couldn’t have been any clearer to my heart at this point, that God was no longer talking to me about leaves… He was talking about lives. Lives, that cost Him the life of His Son, Jesus. Lives, who either willingly, or in ignorance, continue to pull away from the only Source of True Life they could ever know; tumbling aimlessly towards the sure and eternal death awaiting them below.

Needless to say, I picked up my pen that afternoon and haven’t laid it down since. Now, almost a year to the day, I see once more, those golden leaves pulling away from their branches on my Cottonwood tree. They are vivid reminders to me of all the fallen ones in this darkening world we live in. Somber reflections of all those who continue to live life on the ground; instead of in the heights. Watching each golden leaf pull away from its branch and fall from its heights to the pile below it; my spirit senses deeply that the harvest grows greater and time grows shorter. I hold onto my pen a little tighter these days, praying that God uses the words He gives me to write, to touch and change the hearts they pierce.  As I ponder the times we are living in, I can’t help but ask this question once more, with a renewed perspective:

 “Who trades life in the heights of Heaven, in the Glory and Splendor of The Son; for the sure and Eternal death that awaits them in Hell below?”

Only God knows the answers to this question. 

Words still fail me… as I ponder the gravity of the Eternal consequences I see written across the fall season by His Divine Hand. Beautiful and heart-rending images, placed high up in the trees; that speak silently of life and death and the choices that lead to them both. Whether its leaves we are speaking about or lives… I know that my writer’s heart has been forever changed by them both in the unexpected story of this Unforgettable Fall.

“Only with Your instruction can I understand life.” (Psalm 119:104)

______________________________________________________________________________

Dearest Lord and Heavenly Father…help me to remain steadfast in my faithfulness to share the gift of words You have given me to bring glory to Your Name in this fallen world. May we never lose sight of the fallen ones all around us. Help us, Your children, to be obedient to our callings, in spite of setbacks. To be faithful even when we are discouraged; and courageous and obedient in the pursuit of Your Truths…even in the face of opposition.  May we, like the prophet, Jeremiah, never forget that You, our All-Powerful God, are on our side. 

“I’m on your side, taking up your cause.” (Jer. 51:36) “Therefore, He says, ‘Don’t lose hope.  Don’t ever give up!’” (Jer. 51:46)

IN JESUS NAME…AMEN