Autumn

 September 5, 2021

According to the almanac, it’s technically still summer; the equinox doesn’t occur for another fourteen days, but meteorologically, autumn arrived suddenly just a few days ago. It seems we went from unseasonably hot and muggy nights to cool almost overnight: Boom! And we were there. The gratitude prompt I’m following suggests three things autumn, but I’m only going to mention one.

Autumn is the reward for the work of spring and summer. Last April and May, fields were plowed and sown, gardens were planted. Through the summer, those same fields were mown, gardens weeded and watered, a lot of sweat was expended. In autumn, roadside stands overflow with apples, potatoes, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, and whatever other produce is available. Summer’s bounty is on display in autumn, and we stock up for canning and freezing, knowing that winter’s snow is just around the corner.

If the actuarial tables are evenly approximately accurate, I’m in the autumn of my life. Seeds sown years ago have had time to grow and mature; the sweat and strength of summer has yielded whatever harvest there is to be had. I consider myself blessed; I have a wife who loves me, children and grandchildren of whom I can be proud, a healthy church I was able to turn over to my successor a few years ago, and a few lives I’ve seen transformed by our preaching and living the Gospel. 

I don’t know how deep into autumn I am. It could be September; it could be early December. Whichever it is, I am thankful for this season of my life. I can look around me and see like the roadside stands the bounty of my spring and summer. As Frank Sinatra used to sing, “It’s been a very good year.”