Autumn has arrived! In these few days my very large water tank is overflowing, and in driving into the town, so much shedding of bark, branches and leaves. I am faced everywhere with nature’s enduring truth that all changes, seasons herald in new adventures and possibilities, and deepening colours invite us to marvel at the beauty in a simple life…around us, and within us.

 

I am also reminded that every tree, the ‘living oxygen’ of this planet, cannot survive without shedding its bark. Every Autumn we all participate in and witness this natural and life-saving ritual, the shedding of bark, the letting go of that which is no longer needed and which constricts ‘tree’, and the expanding towards new growth.

 

We like ‘tree’ have seasonal and significant times in our lives where we are faced with change, and are invited or pushed to grow. It is by no chance that many people in their Autumn years are seeking a ‘Tree Change’ and a ‘Sea Change’, so Denmark is full of ‘it’! And yet ‘growth’ is not an easy road. When we come to ‘harvest’ our crops, our lives in middle-age, we are tempted to gain even more acquisitions, rather than enjoy the fruits of our life’s Harvest. Michael Leunig, known as one of Australia’s living treasures, a cartoonist, invites us into the Heart and Grace of Autumn…enjoy!

 

‘Autumn.
We give thanks for the harvest of the heart’s work;
Seeds of faith planted with faith;
Love nurtured by love;
Courage strengthened by courage.
We give thanks for the fruits of the struggling soul,
The bitter and the sweet;
For that which has grown in adversity
And for that which has flourished in
Warmth and graces;
For the radiance of the spirit in autumn
And for that which must now fade and die.
We are blessed and give thanks.

Amen’