The Beauty of Autumn

Having turned sixty this year, I am now beginning to face up to the fact that the spring of my youth well and truly gone and that I am graduating from the summer season of middle age into what might be called the ‘autumn’ of my life. The passing of the seasons is a reality that not many of us relish, but I am slowly coming to realise that there is great beauty in the autumn of our lives.

Spring has always been my favourite season; primrose blossoms bursting from freshly greened earth, reminding us of the renewal and, even resurrection, of life. But I am also increasingly appreciating the exquisite beauty of autumn; the gilded rays of a low hanging sun on a furrowed field; a rain of coppered leaves, tossed by the breeze and the crisp chill in the air which presages the coming of winter. There’s such poignancy in the beauty of an autumnal afternoon

Wandering the fields above my house, I can sense the winter drawing in; the unfurling of summer turning inwards to the warmth of the hearth, and realise that there’s little point in fighting this passing of time (any more than it’s worth battling the process of aging). To do so, would be the equivalent of stubbornly shivering my way around our local lanes in shorts and t-shirt, instead of wrapping up against the cold.

Instead I find that there’s comfort in accepting the inevitable; in going with the flow and appreciating the natural rhythms of life. It was God who gave Solomon the wisdom to recognise that:

There is a time for everything,
     and a season for every activity under the heavens:

a time to be born and a time to die (Ecc. 3: 1-2)

If only we were all able to accept this; to be fully present in the moment, being joyful in the present, rather than fearful of the future.

I don’t know what the future may hold ——none of us do. Thank the Lord, my cancer has once again been banished,  but I don’t take this glorious remission for granted. As Jesus pointed out ‘who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life?’ (Luke 12:25) Instead he told us that he had come to that we might live life in all its fullness (John 10:10). And a full life is one that embraces all of its seasons and the rich tapestry of existence we have been granted.

So as I progress through the autumn of my life, I’m going to make sure I enjoy every moment;  jumping puddles, kicking leaves, and gathering conkers while I may.

Kate Nicholas is an author, broadcaster and preacher.  Here new book To The Ocean Floor; a second cancer journey and a profound connection with God is now out. Find out more at her website www.katenicholas.co.uk

Photo by Timothy Eberly on Unsplash