Falling Yellow Leaves

From my porch chair I looked through the rising smoke of the grill and watched yellow leaves as they turned loose of lofty perches to begin their wind driven journey to the ground.  One after another turned loose and took the journey.  They were surely the first of hundreds of thousands still green and hanging tenaciously to the place they have been perched since bud break back in the Spring.  It is more than just a journey to the ground.  Their arrival on the ground is only the beginning of the rest of the journey which will once again join them to the tree and its continued life in another year.

 

As I watched, I was reminded of the journey of faith which is a part of our lives as we trust in Christ.  We are constantly being asked to turn loose of the things which give us a sense of security and comfort.  As we move along through the years of the faith journey, we come to understand that faith is always about turning loose of the things which grant us comfort and security.  What we are called to do in this journey of faith with Christ is to turn loose of what we hold tenaciously so that the Wind driven part of the journey can continue. 

 

When we turn loose and the Holy Wind takes hold of us, it will carry us to a place where the things upon which we depend for life become as dead limbs in winter's trees.  And as we are caught up in the holy journey, we discover that we are taken to a place where our own lives experience a kind of resurrection that makes us a part of what God is continuing to do in the world around us.  When we dare to let go and give the Holy Wind air under us, we can know that our own usefulness to the holy endeavors of God is about to be renewed.  What a blessing comes to us as we dare to allow our faith to set us free from the things we hold too tightly.