The earth yields so many lessons that can be easy for us to overlook and even take for granted. Lessons like a seed being planted and inevitably sprouting into what looked to be hidden inside of it all along, like a tree being rooted into the ground and eventually growing into this majestic element providing the earth with oxygen, keeping us all alive to inhabit the earth, like the sight of beautiful rainbow in the sky after a downpour of rain as a covenant of God’s promise to never judge the earth by water again, and like the mystery and infinite beauty of the ocean that still obeys the command God gave it during the origin of creation when He drew a line in the sand and told it where to stop. Romans 1:20 says that “for since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities – His eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. ” The lessons that comes by way of God’s creation are endless, but there is one lesson that is constant and serves an essential reminder to stay open, stay fluid, never allow circumstances to hold you hostage, and to never let fear keep you still. This lesson is that the seasons will always change!
Since moving from the deep South to the Northeast of the United States, I have grown so much respect for seasons and what each season has to offer each year. Unlike the South, the Northeast is true to each season of the year. In the fall, the air begins to cool down from the summer heat, you can smell the crisps of leaves burning, pine wood in the air, and the leaves all turn colors creating this beautiful breathtaking site as you drive along the mountains. The winter is a true depiction of being in a cold and dark season. All the trees are bare, the animals go into hibernation, and by mid winter it is dark most of the day and too cold to go outside. As winter ends and spring begins to approach, the sun begins to shine more, melting the snow from winter, the trees and flowers begin to bud again, the birds begin chirping during the morning hours almost serving as a reminder that new life is being birthed, the sun is out and it’s time to get up. And just like clockwork, summer heats our part of the earth, allowing us to bask in its glory, embrace the beauty of the oceans, and by now everyone is outside because we are no longer forced to stay inside from the brisk of winter.
This is an essential reminder that the only constant in life is change; a change that often comes with loss of life, the falling away of things that no longer serve us, a change that requires us to adapt to the inconvenience of quiet seasons, and a promise that the sun will shine once again allowing new life to resurface. This serves as a reason to stay hopeful during hard seasons, to stay humble during high seasons, and to be grateful for both. The changing of seasons is always a good time to stop, take a look at our lives, see where we are, what we have lost, what we may need to heal from, and ways to move forward in this new life and awareness we have come to.
If you have not been feeling like yourself then this is your friendly reminder to look at the earth around you and to look inward. It’s time to re-evaluate where you are so that you can refocus on where you are going.
Until next time.
Take care.
Cassondra