I love the changing foliage; the dark late-summer green so subtly shifting to a yellowy-orange or orangey-red. My favorite leaves are the multi-colored ones – not fully ‘become’ what they are transitioning to be and yet still holding-on, or letting-go, of what they once were. When you get the chance, look closely at one of these leaves. Notice the amazing shading and blending of the colors. It is difficult to detect where one color has ‘ended’ and the next has ‘begun’. Such a beautiful example of how Transitions and Change might be.
But not all leaves display such grace and beauty in the Transition. Some seem to change overnight, surprising everyone whose been paying some attention to the change. The Transition is fast and virtually complete, sometimes leaving a tiny bit of the work undone. The color is still beautiful though surprising and unexpected. I remember a tree I could see from our kitchen window back in Yarmouth. It seemed to hang onto its green leaves so much longer than all the other trees in and around our yard. I was always excited the morning I noticed the tree had finally given up its green to join the others in the shifting of the season.
And then there are the trees whose leaves seem to go from green to brown with no brilliant shading or blending of colors. What was so different about their growing season? What in their surroundings prevented the leaves from working through the gradual change?
Our church has been living and working through the many layers of Transition and Change that come with this new season of sharing a pastor with another church. There has been a lot of beautiful shading and blending during this transition. And like the trees, we’ve had some rather unexpected changes. But all in all, we’re doing well. We have not fully arrived where we are going nor are we still fully where we left. We are living in the Transition Time. Some days we will feel like there’s very little change happening and other days will feel like the changes being made are coming too fast and too completely. But that is life – Transition and Change. And we go through it with the help of God’s Love and Grace and with the support of each other.
Every season in New England is about transitions and change. But Autumn, with its swing in temperatures, fading light, and changing colors reveals the beauty of life in Transition and the abundance awaiting in Change.
Grace & Peace,
Rev. Chellie
John Street United Methodist Church 