Life From a Higher Perspective

I have been observing the world a little closer lately. Since moving closer to the church I have purchased a bigger vehicle. Visibility is more important now than gas mileage. So I traded in my 4 door sedan for a "big" SUV. The emphasis is on big. Now instead of looking into the door panels of the trucks and SUV's around me when I pull up to a light I'm looking over them. Wow, the leaves are changing! The only way I could tell before I traded for the big black beast I am driving now was when the truck in front of my sedan had leaves stuck to its tires. It's beautiful. I live in a scenic part of the world and am priviliged to experience some of all 4 seasons. Autumn is becoming a favorite of mine. It used to be summer, but that was when people didn't look at me in swim trunks and snicker. Spring is nice too, but most of the blooms cause me to stay indoors or pay the respiratory consequences. Winter has never been in the running for my favorite time of year. (Except for Christmas of course.) I am not good at winter sports and Tennessee is more famous for ice than snow. So fall now tops the list. It is as if God takes His creative paintbrush and takes huge sweeping strokes of color against our low rolling hills. The sky is water-colored with beautiful colors of grey and pale blue. But it is the fall foliage that amazes me the most. Scientist have been baffled why the trees turn beautiful shades of orange, red, and yellow. They know how, a decrease in the hours of sunshine coupled with cooler temperatures, they just don't know why. Looking from a purely scientific or meterological standpoint it doesn't make sense. Why this splash of non-essential artistry from otherwise passive Oaks, Elms, and Maples?

I know why. It is God's gift to us. He knows, and so do we, that we are about to endure months of cold, dreary and often sun-less days. The beautiful canvas is His way of saying that He loves beauty and that He is able to bring artistry from a dying leaf. He is still in control no matter how bleak the near future looks. It is true with His greatest creation as well. Just today I was walking into a local home improvement "big box" store to buy some heavy duty garbage cans for the tons of refuse we produce each week. (Don't you wish you lived my glamorous life?) I complained to my wife as I tried to press my hair against my head, "My hair is getting so stiff I can't get it to lay against my head. It must be the shampoo or conditioner we are using." Wisely my wife informed me that it wasn't the brand of hair products that was the problem. She said, "It's the grey hair. Grey hair is stiffer than other hair." I responded "I'm just glad its turning grey and not turning loose." Then I began to be observant again of the scene around me. This time I didn't look at the leaves, but at peoples' hair. There are a lot of people out there with grey hair. I realized that it looked great. Natural. Honorable. Almost like a reward from God for a life well lived. It is His gift to us as we enter into this time in our lives. It is His reminder that something beautiful is ahead of us. We may not have one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel, but we are closer home than we were. It is as if He is beginning to clothe us with our beautiful white garment that we will wear in His presence from the head down. Autumn can be a beautiful time of the year and a beautiful time of life.
In His Shadow,
Pastor Ken