The Leaves of Fall

I the leaf have lived my life by Your plan

I have unfolded from the branch

Small, thin and weak

And with the help of the Sun’s rays from above

And the nurturing flow from within

I have grown well

Unfolding and expanding I have reached...

Reached to embrace the warmth

And to soak in its life giving graces

To gain strength and to grow upward to the sky

Thickening, tightening my grasp on the branch,

Sprouting out on my own to multiply

My breadth has given shade to the ground below

From which cool nurturing flows

And my breath has exhaled things I have produced

Bringing good things to the lives of others

In the wind and rain I have curled my wings inward

To hold the cool refreshment given freely to all

And as is Your plan, my days have shortened

Gotten cooler and shorter with time

And change has come upon me

As it is ordained to be for us all

A change of life once vital

To a time of ending, of transition call

And as with age and seasons

All things which begin so end

I have removed my veneer of green

And lost my fullness and growth,

Exposing my life acquired richness of color

Which fades quickly as planned until...

The winds of time have taken me

Back to the place where I began

This fall dear Jesus, I thank you for Your nurturing

And consider how you have sustained me

With Your light of love and grace

Nurtured me in the heat of crisis, through the cold of change

Help me shed my veneer, my coat concealing truth within

So that I may share my life of many colors

May I give it all to those who see me on the branch

And surrender my worldly attachments

So that I may return to You forever

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