As I gaze at the changing colors of the autumn leaves I wonder about the purpose God had in mind when he created all the things of nature that surround us. Did God have other options for what we see around us? And why do things like trees go through what happens to them as the seasons change?
“God, why did you make the trees and the seasons? Am I supposed to be learning something about you and about myself each year when I see the leaves that for so long were green and now are shades of yellow, orange and red? Should I be using the seasons of nature to remind myself that my life, too, is cycling away before my very eyes? Did you provide me the seasons to give me a reminder that my life is my one and only chance to fall in love with you – with you, who are always here, waiting for me to notice you in all the wonders, beauty, pains and sadnesses that I too often view as Lazarus, the Gospel’s rich man who turns his attention to you only after meeting you in death?”
Perhaps the falling leaves are a signal for me that another year is ending, a year in which I had many opportunities to connect with God from whom I came into the world and are another year closer to meeting face to face.
Listen to this song, The Falling Leaves. We hear it as a love song about a person whose loved one has left him. That sentiment may well be what God is whispering deep within each of us, calling us to return to him now.
Listen to it as if God is singing it to you right now.
JUSTICE AND MERCY
When I think of all of the gifts, treasures and second chances that God gives us, the meticulousness with which God planned and created us and all that surrounds us, I wonder: are we expecting to get a free ride into God’s arms?
Yes, God does love us, but why did God give us intellects and free wills were it not, as the Baltimore Catechism taught the Catholics of past generations, “God made us to Know Him, to Love Him in this world”?
How much are we coming to know God in each and every day of the year? How much are we growing toward making God our top pleasure, our strongest and deepest love?
A DEEPER DIVE INTO THE NATURE OF TREES
If you want to see how innovative God is and marvel at God’s wisdom, look at these videos.
And, since God is a Trinity of Persons who created all of the things we see and hear and touch, why not thank this God for letting you experience all of this and ask what He (or She) would like you to learn about Him (or Her) or yourself by surrounding you with all of this?
COVENANT
So much of life is about covenants which are wo-way agreements:
Old Testament: The covenant with Moses (Ten Commandments) and the many prophets reminding the Israelites to be faithful to their part in this covenant with God.
New Testament: The Eucharist -“This is my Body, my Blood of the new Covenant. Do this in remembrance of me.”
Now: My meeting God’s faithfulness to me by being faithful to “doing this in remembrance” of Christ – in giving my ALL to God and to all those whom God loves.
