Fading
What Remains When Life is Drained?
Introduction
Fall is a time of fading, when the green of trees disappears. Like fall, we have seasons where visible life is dwindling. In this issue of Adventure of Reflection, I ponder the seasons when energy is diminished and what we can learn about ourselves at those times.
A Minute of Motivation
It’s Darkest Before the Dawn
It has been said the darkest part of night is just before the sun re-appears to begin another day. This general principle can be applied to many areas of life. It’s darkest before the dawn.
The toughest, darkest, bleakest times in life are often followed by the most joyful, wondrous, and glorious of times. Examples include a long period of difficult unemployment followed by the excitement of finally getting a job, the pain of childbirth followed by the ecstasy of holding a new person, the exhausting last semester of college which leads to the relief and joy of graduation, and many more.
It’s tempting to give in to the hopeless feeling that can naturally accompany such painful times. I encourage you to hang on to hope, especially during the darkest times. Hope will energize you to keep going, to keep trying, to keep pushing forward. The last part of a marathon is the hardest. The final part of a mountain climb is the most strenuous. The last weeks of a semester can be the most exhausting, probably because you’re already tired.
Please remember, the last part of any mission is typically the hardest. If any of your challenges seem to have become excessively difficult lately, just think, the sun may be about to come out again.
Note. Originally written in 1992, and printed on dot-matrix paper, but never published until now.
Enjoy Life More
The Maple Leaf Lesson
As I was walking to a meeting on campus yesterday, I noticed a beautiful, tiny Maple leaf in my path. The green had faded and the hidden colors of red and yellow were visible. I picked up the leaf and carried it with me for the day. What was this leaf trying to teach me?
Fall is a time when visible life is fading from the trees. As the green disappears, different, some more magnificent, colors appear. The dying leaves turn amazing colors. Many people take trips to see these “fall colors” – the result of visible life fading from the trees.
I turned 60 this year. When I look in the mirror I can see subtle changes, signs of aging. The visible vitality of my life is fading. What is becoming more visible? What color am I behind the green?
As visible life fades, the color of hope may be revealed. As we watch the leaves change color, we hope the tree is still alive and life will re-emerge come spring. As visible life fades, the color of hope, if it lives within us, is revealed.
Enjoy the fading colors of fall by pondering the presence of hope that hides behind the green of life.
Faith Corner
“Though outwardly we are wasting away, inwardly we are being renewed day by day.” 2 Corinthians 4:16.
I have pondered this verse more often in recent years as I watch the aging of people I love and see my own aging. Body parts deteriorate; some stop working. The energy of youth declines; younger people are needed for heavy lifting. Aches and pains increase; death calls more loudly each day.
Like the leaves of fall, we are outwardly wasting away. What keeps us going, despite the aging of our bodies? For me, it’s hope. Each day is worth living because I have hope. My hope is that the Lord will use my life each day in a way that blesses others. And I hope, when I, like a leaf in the fall, drop from the tree, what remains of me will be beautiful.
I pray that I will have lived well, loved well, and served the Lord. And the hope revealed will be an inspiration to others to live as I have.
Dear Lord, my body is aging each day. The people I love are aging, too. Though outwardly I am wasting away, I trust You to renew me day by day. Thank You for infusing me with hope. Thank You for renewing me today. Help me to serve You today by serving those You have brought into my life. When I have reached my last day, I pray others can see the hope I have had in You. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Poetry Pause
This Fading Season
A crispness in the morning air;
Leaves losing their grip on the trees;
Summer dies slowly –
As Winter pushes the world into Fall.
The golden city on the hill darkens;
Truth and faith losing their grip on the nation;
Freedom dies slowly –
As the End of Days pushes the world to decay.
Prisoners of this fading season
Need hope on the horizon;
They look ahead to brighter days – but –
Where can hope be found?
Winter is coming,
As is the End of Days.
The world is decaying,
And death of everything
Will come.
Science cannot stop it.
Medicine cannot delay it.
Politics cannot fight it.
The final day of all things
Was set before the first day.
Prisoners of this dying world
Need hope on the horizon.
Hoping in this world is a dying hope.
Lasting hope is found only beyond –
Beyond the End of Days.
I look beyond these dying hills.
I look beyond this fading season.
I look beyond this darkening golden city.
Where does my hope come from?
My hope comes from the Author
Of the first day.
My hope comes from the Authority
Of the last day.
The One
Beyond.
By Cindy MacGregor, October 5, 2021.
Old Mom to Young Mom
Showing Your True Colors
Parenting is sometimes judged not by our best, or even our typical days, but by our worst days. What kind of parent are you when you are at your worst? What is revealed about you during those days when the joy of parenting has faded?
All parents have days when there are “only fumes” in their gas tanks. Relentless rounds of illness, car or appliance troubles, and overloaded job demands, can drain the life out of anyone. It’s no big deal if the kids watch more television at those times or they are put to bed early because you need a break.
But if those worst parenting days bring out demeaning words or destructive actions, it’s time to take a hard look at yourself. Do you need to take a parenting class? It may be time to see a counselor. We all “run on fumes” sometimes, but when we are “misfiring” that’s a signal to get help.
If life is draining and your true, but not lovely, colors are revealed use that as an opportunity to seek help. Good parents honestly face their deficiencies and work to resolve them.
Bonus Content:
Fading Into Glory
One spring night, when our children were still little, I was awakened from sleep by a soft knocking at the door. Looking out the window I saw an elderly man, dressed in pajamas. I opened the front door and invited him in. He sat on the couch and I called the police.
I asked him questions, trying to find out who he was and why he was outside in the middle of the night. He was confused, but cheerful. I was deeply moved, in fact, by how happy he was, almost glowing. It took a few minutes, but he was able to communicate who he was.
I searched the phone book to find his name and address. He lived a few blocks away. I called, and awakened his wife, explaining to her about her husband sitting in my living room. She didn’t know he had wandered off.
When the police arrived, I explained to them who he was and where he lived. He willingly left with them, knowing they would get him home.
Two months later, while I was working in the front yard on a pleasant summer day, a car pulled into the driveway, two elderly women inside. One of them got out, walked to me, and introduced herself. She was the wife of my pajama-clad visitor.
She thanked me for taking her husband in, especially since it rained later that night, and she was horrified at the thought he might have fallen into a ditch in a storm. He was having a cerebral event, was taken to the hospital shortly after the police brought him home, and had died a few hours later.
He was a believer, she told me, and she took comfort in knowing he was home with the Lord.
And then it all suddenly made sense to me. His earthly body was fading when I met him, but he was glowing with hope as he grew closer to a bright horizon with his Lord. I had sensed eternity from him. He was fading into glory.
Dear Dr. Mac
You can write to me at: drcjmacgregor@outlook.com; I hope to hear from you!