Autumn Riptide

It wouldn’t be fall around here unless I posted a piece on the bittersweetness of the season; I hope you enjoy this one!

Did you find the leaf? Plain text is below in case the photo doesn’t format well for you.

Next week we begin my favorite season of the liturgical year, I look forward to journeying through it with you.

©2023 Jacqueline Tisthammer. All rights reserved.

Photo by Katie Moum on Unsplash

Each Fall the passage of time creates a bothersome current in my soul
Some song or vista reminding the depths of me
How everything in its beauty fades and dies
We want the death to be beautiful, we really do
But in the end it’s just death
However beautifully it plays out
Humanity is no stranger to the Autumn riptide
It rushes underneath all the beauty we can find
Threatening to drag it all away
Falling leaves echo our frailty
Giving voice to all we feel
In the perishing beauty of our bodies
Holding nothing back
They reveal their deepest colors before leaping into obscurity
Bringing unexpected joy around each bend
We cling to Autumn’s vibrancy when the winter winds descend
We beg it not to go
As the branches wave, dislodging their beauty
The trees are yet joyful, inviting us to look beyond and trust
For they enter a death that isn’t death, they shout,
“Fall gives way to Winter, Winter will give way to Spring!”
The crunch of one fiery, dry leaf has more substance
Than all the saccharine moments of Summer
The crisp, cold joy of Fall