The Season of the Leaf

The Season of the Leaf

11/7/12

Each season a new leaf is turned and if we stood and watched this process unfold it would bring the life cycle of the leaf into an entire new perspective.  Instead we continue our individual lives and basically ignore what occurs within the new leaf.  Maybe we should pay more attention to the leaf since it really follows a similar pattern throughout its life as we do.  Many of us are interested in what transpires in our lives but are not concerned with the surroundings of our environment, maybe we should stop and look at these changes that are occurring around us and be aware of the hidden dangers or potential good happenings that are in our path.  Whichever path comes into play, the leaf is turning and it is time for us to be prepared for a new leaf.

Many of us have heard of the old adage about turning over a new leaf and how it means that we humans take another route, start over, move away or just totally change the way we live.  This saying has been adopted into our way of thinking since the majority of us have had to complete this phrase at least once in our lives.  There is not many out there who have had to not make some type of major alteration in their lives.  With modern society it is almost a must that we go through this process at least every couple of years and sometimes this change takes its time to settle within our households.

The above process can be referred to as the beginning of the leaf cycle where the tree is actually producing the bud.  The bud wants to make its own mark in its life as soon as it can and open itself up to the environment and let it know just how important it will be to its surroundings.  Yet, the tree keeps it closed up into its shell and will not release it until the time is right and when this time comes it is a slow process which is controlled by the tree.  The leaf learns that there is a relationship that it has with the tree and that the tree controls what the leaf does and it can open up and flourish as it is supposed to do.

As time advances the leaf continues to grow and becomes a strong and viable part of the tree.  The tree provides all of the leaf’s needs which includes nutrients and everything that a healthy leaf needs to continue.  The season has become warm with long, bright and sunny days to give the leaf its energy to intake food.  The leaf seems not to have a care in the world and that it is at the top of its game.  The leaf looks around and notices many other leaves on the tree in the same condition which further strengthens its confidence of invincibility.  The leaf has been through some storms which caused some pause in this thinking but each time it has come out unscathed and stronger than before.

As time marches on the leaf begins to feel a twinge of environmental change.  It is a feeling that it has not known before but feels like it will go away since the leaf still is young enough to handle what comes its way.  It dares not to ask the tree about the changes but the leaf now sits and waits to see what happens next all the while putting on a happy face to its fellow leaves.

The leaf now quietly notices that the days are getting shorter and the sun does not shine as warm as it has been for most of its life.  The leaf understands this process and begins to think about what scene the environment will play in the coming days.  Even though it has no idea of what the environment will provide in the future it trusts that the tree will continue to provide the nourishment that the leaf needs to survive these changing times.  The leaf knows that not all of its life has been easy and that there have been moments when it did not know if it would actually survive the troubled times that it was facing, but each time it came through with flying colors and stood strong for the world to see.

One morning the leaf woke up to find that the weather had changed drastically and that the air felt colder than normal.  The leaf panicked and immediately turned to look at the tree which was still there and providing the necessary nourishment.  The leaf relaxed but still had a nervous condition about it that would not go away.  It did not understand why the change but it knew that it was still alive and witnessing a scene that it had never experienced before.  Soon a small tweak occurred in the leaf and it looked to see what was happening.

On the tip of its body, the leaf realized that its color had begun to change.  The color change scared the leaf and in a huff ran to the tree, which in turn said that everything is ok and not to worry about things.  But as the leaf continued its cry to the tree about the changes the tree gently said to the leaf, turn and look at the other leaves.  As the leaf did as the tree said the leaf noticed that many other leaves in the area, including on the same tree, had begun the same process.  The tree then said that it was a normal process and that the environment actually controls what the trees and leaves do throughout their entire life.

The tree also explained that it was time that the tree and the leaves prepare themselves for a major change and that the process could not be stopped as long as there was life in the environment.  The leaf became angry and did not want the change that the environment was providing and then demanded that the environment stop its cycle and allow the leaf and its fellow occupants to live the way that they wanted without any “outside” interference.  The tree acknowledged this action from the leaf and said that it had seen this type of attitude many times before and that there was nothing that could be done, even if the environment were to slow its cycle.  The leaf thought about what the tree said and then asked how many times have you witnessed these events?  The tree replied, many more than you can ever imagine and the one thing that I know about the environment is that it will never change its patterns.

Days drug past and the leaf sat in wonder about how its color was continually changing and that no matter how much energy that it placed into its body, the colors still crept higher and higher to its stem.  One day the leaf realized that the energy that it needed actually was the source of its color change.  This was the point in time that the leaf understood that its life was about to change in a way that would be like never before.  The reality that its days were now numbered hit the leaf in full force and it had to accept the fact that one day soon its life would be over.

As the leaf came to this realization, it asked the tree what would happen to it once its color had fully changed.  The tree calmly said that eventually the leaf would be separated from the tree by the environment and that it would fall onto the ground somewhere else.  The leaf put two and two together and realized that this would mean that it would not have any more life and that its usefulness to the tree and its fellow leaves would be over.  The leaf then quietly took its place and watched the environment intently as its color change continued to advance.

Another cold morning greeted the leaf as it opened its eyes to the world and noticed that its energy level had almost come to a complete halt.  It did not have the strength to contend with the other issues of the day and the leaf actually realized how much those issues had become very unimportant and meaningless.  Survival was the only need that the leaf cared about and it would do as much as possible to continue this pattern.  The wind suddenly appeared and the leaf knew that something big was coming soon.

The leaf now completely brown and dry, its condition just as brittle the leaf knew that its days or even hours were numbered.  It then felt a sharp pain at the base of its body and it noticed that a piece of its stem had broken off from the tree.  The leaf looked at the tree and the tree whispered that it was ok and that this needed to happen.  The leaf had known that this time was approaching but never really believed it would come to pass.  The leaf felt another twinge tugging at its stem and suddenly all communication with the tree ceased.  The leaf had felt that it was now alone in the world as it looked to the sky for its guidance.

A few moments later a small but forceful gust of wind came along and completed the separation of the leaf from the tree and the leaf turned to look at the tree as it spun away with the wind.  As it floated in the air the leaf saw its life flash before its eyes and it immediately wished that it could return to its youthful state once again.  As the leaf reached the ground it lay there pondering its next moment.  But not another moment arrived for the leaf drew its last breath and it realized that it was time for the environment to turn over a new leaf.

As we in the world approach the end of 2012, we humans need to realize that our spiritual environment that we have chosen is leading us into a new direction.  In other words, we are about to embark on a new level of life that we have not experienced before.  The way God presented this article to me is by a leaf.  Even though the turning over of a new leaf is an exact example it does represent the overall concept that we must understand.

God, no matter whether you believe in Him or not, does allow us to have free will when it involves accepting His ways.  This free will always be flawed since all of us make mistakes and none of us are perfect.  Even though humans may believe that they are in control of everything that occurs in our world, they are gravely mistaken, which God accepts and allows to continue.  See, God has set into motion the environment and He is the one that controls everything that occurs.  There is nothing that we can do to change this environmental process and in fact we humans are just like the leaf in which we have a certain amount of time on this rock.

It is also our responsibility to understand that the times are changing and that many people do not see things according to the past.  A change is coming to this land and it may not settle well with everyone, lest it is a change that God has ordained and it needs to be recognized as such.  We need to make the necessary adjustments for our participation in this change and we need to understand this change in its fullness.

As with the leaf we are experiencing a phenomenon that we cannot control, no matter how hard we fight it.  It is a process that has been foretold and cannot be altered.  The process will affect all of us and it will set in hard for some, but we all must look to the vine for guidance and stability during these approaching times.  Turn from the humanly ways of thinking and allow yourself to be restored during this process.  It will be a hard and trying time but if we trust in the vine, all sorrowful matters will turn into triumphs.

DLB