The Coming

Late in the afternoon, the sun made patches on the road as it passed through the leaves on the trees. It just wasn't quite as hot today as I expected it to be. I stopped pedaling my bicycle for a moment as I coasted downhill, just to take my mind off my beating heart and burning legs and to enjoy the breeze. Today, that breeze was just a touch cooler than normal. That was the moment that I noticed it.

The first hint of autumn. 

If you pay attention, you will catch it every year. Sometimes it is that first morning that you wish you had worn a jacket. Sometimes it is that first little red leaf on the tree in the backyard. If you are not attuned, you will miss it. You will wake up one morning and autumn will be in full swing. But if you are like me, you eagerly anticipate not just when fall arrives, but also the coming of it. 

"What is it that you love about fall?" My friend asked me out of curiosity as we rode our bikes together that afternoon. 

"Oh, it's everything!" I exclaimed. "Cool weather and the vibrant, warm colors of the leaves on the trees. Camping and bonfires and s'mores. Sweaters and scarves and boots. Pumpkin spiced lattes and pumpkin muffins and pumpkin desserts. Pumpkin picking, pumpkin carving, and pumpkin pie eating. The aroma of Yankee candles, apple cider on Saturday mornings, and playing cornhole at the fall festival. Baking with mom in the kitchen for thanksgiving. Canoe trips with dad on the Buffalo River. Dad raking leaves and then Kaysi and I jumping in the giant piles in the backyard, picking little brown leaf crumbs out of each other's hair and laughing - just like when we were younger. Family coming over. Flannel pajamas. Candy corn. Mums and pansies. Long jogs when I hardly sweat and my breath makes little clouds."

She smiled at my response and seemed to contemplate it. For her, fall had only been a time when summer was over and everything began to die. Many people also feel this way about autumn I think. People love spring when the world comes to life and summer when everything is alive in full bloom. Then they disregard fall as a time of sadness when everything dies. And they miss the beauty of it all. 

Even the beauty of dying. 

In John 12:24, Jesus said, "Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds." Jesus also said in Mark 8:35, "Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will truly find it." 

Christ's death and resurrection is the center, the core, of our faith. We celebrate his death and rising all the time. Even Paul wrote that our faith would be useless if Christ did not really die for our sins and come to life again. In addition, every breath that we take celebrates our own death and resurrection. For we have been crucified with Christ, and we no longer live for ourselves but for Jesus. We have died to sin and are alive in Christ. I love Colossians 3:3, "For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God." 

The hope of the Christian faith is this: there is beauty even in dying. 

I love everything about fall - even the leaves that lose their color and fall dead to the ground. It reminds me constantly that a seed must die before it can live again. And I remember to die to myself daily. 

Autumn is a season to bake pumpkin cupcakes with cream creese icing and to press your favorite fall leaves in the phone book. It is a time to go camping, sing songs and strum guitars around the campfire late at night, and watch for shooting stars. It is a time to invite a friend to Starbucks and sip on mochas while engaging in conversation about life. And it also a time to pick up your cross, die to self daily, and follow Jesus. 

This is the time of year that summer is passing and fall is arriving. So don't close your eyes for a second and miss it. Roll down your windows, feel the cool air, breathe it in. Don't miss the coming, the dying, the rising.