The Fall

I love Fall.
I was sitting on the deck yesterday admiring the colors and patterns of the trees on the mountains, and I heard the Lord say, “ It wasn’t like this before the fall.”  Then He showed me something...

 ...Before the Fall of man, there was no death, so there were no falling leaves because it was kind of like a perpetual Summer. After the fall, there came the season of 'Fall' which faded into winter... representing death, then Spring...a promise of new life, and finally Summer again...representing the former paradise. Even though the sin of man brought death, God made the season of Fall as a kind of promise  of  redemption from 'the fall.'

In my mind's eye I saw the first inhabitants standing outside the paradise of God’s full protection, having no idea of how their decision would effect  the future of humanity, but feeling the loss and seriousness of their situation none the less. They looked so frightened. But then, I heard the sigh of God, and a beautiful leaf floated down and fell at their feet. This was the first sign of Fall after the fall.

As one of them picked up the leaf, they both marveled over the brilliant colors of it. They had never noticed before, that the veins of a leaf made a picture of what a tree would look like without it’s leaves. In a kind of a kinship, it reminded them of their own nakedness and vulnerability. As time went by, they couldn’t help but keep their attention on the trees. The oranges and reds and yellows danced as a chilly wind blew. The trees, that had been there as long as they could remember, were the now their continual focus and kind comfort.

You see, God knew the how their decision would effect humanity. He saw the wars, famine, pain and destruction that was about  define the world we know it. He also knew that there was one tree, set apart for the answer to a hopeless humanity. A tree that the Son of God would hang on. A tree in the garden was there during the despair of humanity, and a tree outside of a garden would hold the hope of humanity.
 Every leaf holds a picture of  that tree.  It is His love that splashes tree colors in our world, to comfort them at the beginning, and to comfort us now.

 I think now,  I love Fall more than ever.