"Making Leaves Fall"

Yesterday, when we were taking a walk, we passed a lady who was pulling the leaves off of a tree in her yard. Apparently, the leaves were not falling fast enough for her. I assume she wanted to be done with raking. So, she figured, yesterday was the last day she would rake even if it meant her hand pulling every remaining leaf off of her tree. Seeing her make the leaves fall faster, made me laugh, shake my head and say, "What's the hurry?"

Of course, anyone could ask me the same question. Why do I tend to treat my kids bath time like a race? I often use the words, "Hurry up and get your clothes off so we can get you bath so you can have a snack before bed time." When I read books, I am a notorious skimmer and even skipper as I constantly look for what I deem important in a book. When I watch TV, I am a flipper...I watch 2 or 3 shows at the same time...flipping back and forth...drives Kimberly crazy. I have even been known to spend more time thinking about what needs to be done tomorrow, than appreciating today. I too have a tendency to try to make leaves fall faster. Any body else out there relate?

The question is why? Why do we try to make leaves fall faster? Why do we rush through today? Why do we focus on tomorrow before it is here? Why? So we can get to our casket sooner? I mean, really, why do we do this? What is our hurry? All we have is today and we are pulling leaves off the trees of life trying to make life pass more quickly? Are we crazy?

King Solomon was considered the wisest man in the world and yet he reflected on his life and realized that trying to make leaves fall faster makes life meaningless. He concluded that rather than make leaves fall faster, the one who lives with meaning is the one who comes to accept that,

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build up, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw a way, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace" Ecclesiastes 3:1-8.

In this poem, Solomon reveals great wisdom from hard, learned experience. Rather than rush through the good or bad of life, take the time to walk through it all, learning from it all everything that one needs to live a well, meaning-filled life. Solomon is saying, "If we are not careful, we will try to make leaves fall faster and miss how good the good of life can be or we miss how beneficial, albeit painful, the difficulties of life can be."

This is my prayer for you and me today: "Father, help me to trust you enough to let the leaves fall at their own pace. Shape me in your contentment so that I may be able to appreciate the beauty of this life until the last leaf falls. Shape me in peace so that I may be able learn from every mess life gives me to rake up. But whatever, happens, Lord, please give me the wisdom not to make leaves fall faster, because life goes fast enough as it is. Thank you for the gift of today. Whatever it holds...positive or negative, in and through your love I can discover value and meaning."