ART & POETRY BY KATHY BOECHER

The first day of autumn –

We see colors of great intensity, breathing their last,

Each of those leaves was once just a seed – a tiny specimen of life –

Part of God’s amazing masterpiece.

That leaf turns green. Tiny veins spread throughout, carrying nutrients to each part of it.

Summer heat begins to sap the life from that leaf. Each gentle drop of rain restores it.

It suddenly becomes bathed in sunlight, heat and sometimes distress.

As the Autumnal equinox approaches, that leaf has changed.

Its edges begin to curl up. Its color becomes weathered. Its life is sapped.

Still, even in that glorious season, new life pours out of it in brilliant hues that only God can display. It resembles a Kaleidescope containing shards of colored glass, changing daily.

He paints each one from the extensive colors of His palette.

The winds and rains will cause it to fall to the ground from whence it came.

Each season has its own glory. They are all in our heavenly Father’s hands.

We are born in the season or spring, when new life begins.

The heat of summer expresses our youth and time of exploration and discovery.

In autumn, life is beginning to depart from us. Our strength withers. Our stamina is replaced with long naps.

In the winter of or life span, we die.

But this is just the beginning. For eternal life is waiting on the other side.