Hold Firm, Wait
I have made no secret of the fact that Autumn is my
favorite time of the year. October is
like a trout stream to my heart; I just have to get out into the middle of
it. It is a feast for the senses that
calls to me.
November on the other hand can be a bit more
sobering. The wind tends to come hard
from the northwest and there are mornings when the pond edges are stiff with
the first thin sheets of ice. The nights
grow longer and darker, and the stars seem even more distant.
Today on my morning walk it was quiet. Then I heard first just a single note –
far off and faint. It was the kind of
sound that makes you wonder if you even heard it at all. But then, the notes came on stronger and growing
stronger. Single notes built into a chorus. It was the high-pitched whistling calls of swans. I stopped and waited with my ear cocked because
my view to the north was blocked by a woods at that point of my walk. Soon though, they were directly overhead and I saw them – a large V formation, three
hundred birds strong, came riding the north wind southward. Even though they were very high it was easy
to sense the power of those wingbeats.
And then, too soon, they were gone and November was again quiet.
October is the time of spectacular leaves. November is the time when most of those leaves
are on the ground, all turning molted brown, pressed down and flattened by last
week’s slushy snow. Now the trees stand bare,
their seemingly lifeless branches sway stiffly on windy days.
tree, buds cluster around the stems of those same leaves, even as they rattle in the breeze. Catkins hang hard and tight on the birches. The dogwood buds are hard to see; I have to run my fingers along the long, thin red branches to feel the hard, turtle-like shell that covers each tiny bud.
Creation reveals the nature of the Creator. So, every ending holds the promise of a
beginning - even every November.
“Why are you downcast my soul, why do you
groan within me? Wait for God, whom I
shall praise again, my savior and my God.”
Psalm 42:12
His Peace <><
Deacon Dan
Photo by Vera Marian on Unsplash
Photo by Luba Ertel on Unsplash
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