The colors were there all along.

"We pray for the end to all injustice.  

Inspire us with the all-embracing love of God,  

Challenge us with the sacrificial love of Jesus,  

Empower us with the transforming love of the Spirit,  

That we and all God's children may live and be free!  Amen. "  

(From The Iona Abbey Worship Book)  

It is a beautiful fall day.  The air is brisk and the sun shines through the leaves that are still holding strong to their branches.  Holding strong to their branches.   

Each fall, as the landscape just explodes with color, I find myself coming back to the truth that this brilliant color, this vibrant expression, is all part of dying. 

  

"As summer ends and autumn comes, the days get shorter and shorter. This is how the trees "know" to begin getting ready for winter. 

During winter, there is not enough light or water for photosynthesis. The trees will rest, and live off the food they stored during the summer. They begin to shut down their food-making factories. The green chlorophyll disappears from the leaves. 

As the bright green fades away, we begin to see yellow and orange colors. Small amounts of these colors have been in the leaves all along. We just can't see them in the summer, because they are covered up by the green chlorophyll. 

The bright reds and purples we see in leaves are made mostly in the fall. In some trees, like maples, glucose is trapped in the leaves after photosynthesis stops. Sunlight and the cool nights of autumn cause the leaves to turn this glucose into a red color. 

The brown color of trees like oaks is made from wastes left in the leaves. 

The way plants turn water and carbon dioxide into oxygen and sugar is called photosynthesis. That means "putting together with light." A chemical called chlorophyll helps make photosynthesis happen. Chlorophyll is what gives plants their green color. 

It is the combination of all these things that make the beautiful fall foliage colors we enjoy each year."   http://www.sciencemadesimple.com/ 

You may be chuckling at me, as I inquire about how and why all this works.  But there is so much great theology in this process.  There is so much hope.  Yellow, orange, small amounts of these colors have been there all along, they were just covered up.  They were there all along.... 

"Empower us with the transforming power of the Spirit." 

The love and grace of God is always there, always within us, but oh how sometimes it feels hidden.  The good news is that when we can remember that those colors of light and love are there, all we need to  do is turn to the Spirit, turn to God. 

    

In the last week, I have found myself needing to step away from the news, or the noise and the information that surrounds us.  To be honest, I  search out the news and the noise.  So given this, it has been really good for me to notice. Enough, breath, pray, go get some fresh air. Action is not always what it seems.  Sometimes it is holding on tightly to the branches, sometimes it is letting go. 

  

Each day we are being changed, transformed by the God that loves us, even when we feel unlovable.  We are being changed by the light that surrounds us on all sides.  Many times that light comes in the form of those that love and care for us, and those we are able to love and care for.  Perhaps the light comes on any given day, by the well loved pet that sits in your lap or at your feet.  Perhaps the light comes literally through your window, and you are present enough to notice it.  Perhaps.......  

There are times right now when it is very easy to feel as though we are in the dark.  Who can we trust?  Who is really telling the truth?  Who can we look up to?  Where is God in all this?  God is in us.  God is in the grace and wisdom that is in our communities and in our country.  We can only see and really know the light, we can only see and really know those colors, if we know the dark is part of the plan.  The darkness is not scary or "bad" for God.  We are told over and over again that we are not alone, we will have company as we walk through the valley's. 

  

The passion that has surfaced in the last year, particularly around the presidential campaign tells us many things.  One thing I know, is that we are being called as a people, all of us, to figure out who we are, and what we can do to make the world a better place.  We are never going to like everyone.  We are never going to agree with everyone.  People never have.  This is not a new dilemma. I would go so far as to say it is the human condition. Perhaps we are all created to bring a vast and very diverse approach to life.  

The transforming power of the Spirit comes through the story, yours and mine.  Light comes through the dark when we are able to be open to and interested in our neighbor.  Light comes through the dark when we can remember that even if we can't see or know it, there is beauty beneath all that shields it.

   

Sometimes the action is in the holding on, sometimes the action is in the letting go.  I encourage us all to be as informed as we can.  To vote and be active in whatever way you feel called to. 

  

Often it is important for me to come back to the simple and very basic truths, or guidelines.  I really believe we can be a better people if we just show up, love God and play nice.   Let us continue to long for the transforming power of the Spirit.