Autumn Ending

There is beauty in a life well-lived; a life that is determined to end well, making its final season beautiful in its own right.

On the eastern edge of Boise, Idaho in October

“I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.”
― L. M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

I love autumn. I think it is my favorite season.

“Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.”
― Albert Camus

We talk often of the miracle of new life, and rightly so! We love to look at photos of babies or, if you are like me, you love to hold them. There is something inspiring about the springtime of life and imagining all that life has in store for these little ones.

There is a miracle on the other end of life, too, though we tend not to think of it that way. As the leaves of life begin to change hues, there is beauty in a life well-lived; a life that is determined to end well, making its final season beautiful in its own right.

“You expected to be sad in the fall. Part of you died each year when the leaves fell from the trees and their branches were bare against the wind and the cold, wintery light. But you knew there would always be the spring, as you knew the river would flow again after it was frozen.”
― Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast

The colors of autumn remind us that a time of rest has come upon the earth; a season of fruitlessness has arrived. But it doesn’t take too many trips around the sun to realize that this season is temporary. As Hemingway reminds us, there is always a spring to come and the rivers will flow again.

The nourishing showers of God’s grace fall upon all people, in all places, in every season. For those who respond, turning their eyes to the One who can save, there is a grand promise that the life well-lived does not end with the turning, and subsequent falling, of the leaves.