a leaf, a life

Strolling through the crisp November morning air I saw that most of the leaves are gone from the hardwood trees and the woods have a pungent, familiar smell from the new carpet of brown leaves that used to form a green canopy above.  I traced the path of one leaf as it descended from high above, gently circling and then settling on the path just ahead.  The thought I had was, "Every leaf falls just once, just as every leaf has had one unique life, perched on one branch, situated on one tree, for one brief season of living".  We are something like leaves.  The Lord has placed us in a particular spot in time, in a certain family situation, located in a particular geographical place, with certain life giving qualities and gifts.  For a season we are perched in our location and, like the leaf, we can convert the light of a bright Son with the elements of our surroundings to foster life and health.  After the leaf falls to earth and the tree appears bare it may seem that there is no visible life, but the life produced in the leaves during the summer continues in the tree trunk during the winter.  And though the leaf that is our life will fade and fall, the life is not contained solely in the leaf and the tree of life still thrives.

Revelation 22:² It flowed down the center of the main street. On each side of the river grew a tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh crop each month. The leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations.