Brown Dried Leaves

With no day planner filled with a schedule of upcoming meetings and appointments, these retirement days sometimes seem to run together.  I have been heard to say that every day seems like Saturday.  But, the truth is there is usually no more to do on Saturday than Monday or Wednesday or any other day of the week!   A week that once was once far too scheduled has become one with no schedule at all to guide me through the day or week.

On a late afternoon walk across the farm the other day, I found myself feeling more confused than usual when it seemed like I was hearing the words of Ash Wednesday.  "You are dust and to dust you shall return."  The words came not from the voice of a preacher, but from the brown dried leaves that crunched underfoot as each step was taken.   Those leaves were far from the moment they hung heavy and green on the trees above.  Soon the dried leaves would be seen no more and each would become a part of the dirt which was waiting to receive them. 

As these sights and sounds filled my eyes and ears, it seemed as if I was hearing the intoning words of the Ash Wednesday ritual.  Actually, it seemed more like a Word from God reminding me again that this life is no more than a fragile thing which has an end as surely as it had a beginning.   As the years slip on toward that unknown ending point, this message comes with a greater sense of urgency.  It not a morbid reminder, but one which speaks to me about the importance of paying attention to everything that is around me.  What is around me is filled with the presence of God and from all that is around me comes His Word as surely as brown dried leaves crunch beneath my walking steps.