It’s just in our nature to be resistant and to feel some anxiety when it comes to changes in our lives…like how we feel about and react to the change of the seasons.

We are there now as we move into the change from summer to fall, knowing full well that the next season change can bring the cold, winds, ice and snow of winter. We feel the need to prepare ourselves and even brace for the impact of these changes. This mixes with the good-feeling anticipation of Halloween parties, colorful falling leaves, and a return to fall garb of sweaters and jackets.

The transition from summer to fall is easier, as it involves gradual wardrobe changes, the anticipation of pumpkin pie, and the enjoyment of the beautiful and colorful autumn landscapes. But, then comes the time to let go of summer for good…one day we realize it is completely Fall and on its way to Winter.

You are not alone with these feelings either with contemporaries, or by poets and writers who have expressed their feelings about the change of seasons from the beginning of time.

“Live each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influence of each.” -Henry David Thoreau

“Nature gives to every time and season unique beauty; from morning to night, as from the cradle to the grave, it’s just a succession of changes so soft and comfortable that we hardly notice the progress.” - Charles Dickens

“There is a harmony in autumn, and a luster in its sky, which through the summer is not heard or seen, as if it could not be, as if it had not been!” - Percy Bysshe Shelley

########

Below is the story entitled “Four Seasons of a Tree”. Perhaps you will align yourself with the feelings expressed in the story. Each season of the year brings its unique feel and look and leads to different reactions by each person.

FOUR SEASONS OF A TREE

- Author Unknown

Don't judge a life by one difficult season.

There was a man who had four sons. He wanted his sons to learn to not judge things too quickly. So he sent them each on a quest, in turn, to go and look at a pear tree that was a great distance away.

The first son went in the winter, the second in the spring, the third in summer, and the youngest son in the fall.

When they had all gone and come back, he called them together to describe what they had seen.

The first son said that the tree was ugly, bent, and twisted.

The second son said no, it was covered with green buds and full of promise.

The third son disagreed. He said it was laden with blossoms that smelled so sweet and looked so beautiful, it was the most graceful thing he had ever seen.

The last son disagreed with all of them; he said it was ripe and drooping with fruit, full of life and fulfillment.

The man then explained to his sons that they were all correct, because they had each seen but one season in the tree's life.

He told them that you cannot judge a tree, or a person, by only one season, and that the essence of who they are - and the pleasure, joy, and love that come from that life - can only be measured at the end, when all the seasons are up.

If you give up when it's winter, you will miss the promise of your spring, the beauty of your summer, fulfillment of your fall. Don't let the pain of one season destroy the joy of all the rest.

########

The Bible also tells us about the importance and the changing of the seasons:

There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven… -Ecclesiastes 3:1 NASB

“While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.” Genesis 8:22 NASB

“Now learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branches bud and its leaves begin to sprout, you know that summer is near.” Matthew 24:32 NLT

He changes times and seasons; he deposes kings and raises up others. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. - Daniel 2:21 NIV

************************************************************************************************

If you have a story that you think might bless others, I invite you to send it by email to me (Kenneth Kersey) at godsotherways@me.com.

************************************************************************************************