Jeremy L. Berg

Here’s another repost from the past. Life is a little busier these days and I haven’t had time or energy to invest in many new posts.  As you can probably see, my time has been going into videos rather than blogs. ‘Tis the season we’re in right now. Peace, JB

I always heard that San Diego had the best climate in the USA. I believed it…until I lived there. The first two weeks of 70 and sunny were delightful. By the seventh and eight week of this perfect weather I was praying for an afternoon downpour or an evening house-shaking thunderstorm. Autumn came to San Diego with a hint of change, but not much. (Southern folks just have to trust me that your changes are subtle compared to midwest seasonal transitions). When December came I was dreaming of jingle bells, 3 feet of snow, sipping hot chocolate by a crackling fireplace inside cozy house with the winter subzero winds whipping hard against the frosted windows.

My conclusion: Too much of any good thing is not good. The health of the human soul is smothered by monotony and repetition. We are built with longing for novelty, variety and the “changing of the seasons” — whether literal or metaphorical. The Bible and The Byrds get it right:

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven” (Eccl. 3:1).

My favorite season is Autumn by far. I can’t figure out if my reasons are rooted in the potency of the season itself or the many memorable moments in my own life that took place under the influence of falling leaves and apple picking.  As one friend put it:

“Autumn = cool, crisp, apple-y air, routine back in session, bonfires, harvest and the celebration of ripeness, new clothes, open windowns (all day and all night!) the smell and sound when you crack open new books…it seems to have a “fresh-start” aura yet the last hurrah before winter gathers us in. Beautiful.”

I love all seasons — though not equally. I wish they had equal duration.  Autumn is but a blink and winter wears out it’s welcome every year. But each season compliments and contrasts each other in a way that makes us appreciate their 12 month dance with each other. I love those unseasonal surprises when an October snow bursts in prematurely to kiss Indian summer. How about a spring snow shower that teases you as you have to dig out the snow scraper and gloves you just packed away.  Pesky seasons.

My favorite part of seasons is the way they draw us into the deeper realities of the human experience.  Seasons are metaphorical for trying times and nostalgic remembrances of days past. They connect our heart’s longings for fresh beginnings and new experiences with the God who has created us for just such a thing. There is a holy predictability to the seasonal cycles that brings hope amidst our coldest winters of the soul. For we know that our God will in his good and perfect timing breath his warm, healing breeze into our circumstances and melt the icy layers of sin, suffering and death.

Our God does not control the weather in a cold, calculated, mechanical manner like a detached Watchmaker.  Nor does he rule the weather in a vindictive, angry Zeus-like way with flares of frost bite and tornadoes of judgment. Rather, our God has entered into all the storms and weather of human existence in Jesus.  God became flesh and rode out the long, cold, bitter winter of sin on the cross.  On the third day, as the warm spring breeze and snow-melting showers fell upon the thawing landscape of Jerusalem (and the human soul), new Resurrection Life burst forth from the grave. Jesus went through our wintery judgment on our behalf, dying a cold, cruel death in our place.

Yet, as the seasons remind us every year without fail, every winter gives way to a new springtime. Summer’s are warm and renewing but they don’t last long enough.  Autumn tells us God’s work of redemption begun 2,000 years ago with an empty tomb is still being carried onto completion even now. For until Jesus returns to usher in those long-awaited “times of refreshing” we will all face, inevitably, more bouts with winter’s cold bite.

See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come, the cooing of doves is heard in our land.The fig tree forms its early fruit; the blossoming vines spread their fragrance. Arise, come, my darling; my beautiful one, come with me” (Song of Sol. 2:11-13).

“Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord…” (Acts 3:19)

So, before winter comes to cast it’s blanket over our green landscape and turns our fall colors to black and white, let’s go pick some apples and enjoy the fruit of God’s faithfulness!

What words would you use to describe the autumn air?  What is your favorite season?  Why?  What spiritual lessons do the seasons teach you?