Autumn is one of my favorite seasons since moving to Kentucky several years ago. The colors, along with the change in climate, just make me feel good. I learned something a couple of weeks ago about why leaves fall from the trees at this time of year. The kinds of trees that drop their leaves gain a lot of fuel from their leaves during the growing season. The leaves are where the photosynthesis goes on. There is a lot of water in the leaves, and they are very porous. In climates where freezing takes place, if the leaves stayed on the trees when it got very cold, the leaves would cause the temperature of the tree to go too low, and the entire tree would be damaged or killed. So in the fall the leaves are literally pushed off the branches, so the tree will make it through the winter.
I am wondering what in my life may need to be let go of because it no longer serves it purpose. What habits or ways of seeing the world around me, that may have been useful once, will become a stumbling block if I persist in them now? I know, and even embrace for the most part, the fact that the world is constantly changing, at an ever increasing rate of speed. But are there dead leaves in my heart that need to be shed before they freeze and cause my heart to grow cold?
As a pastor, I have been trained to see "church business" in certain ways; my experiences since seminary have also shaped my perceptions. I wonder how many of those ways of thinking need to be kicked off the branch? In a new setting, a new community with new challenges, I pray God will prune this branch so I will be productive in leading the congregation of Faith UMC.