Observations©

By Donald S. Conkey

Date: November 29, 2007 # 948 – There was beauty in Eagle Watch (817)

Next door neighbor Penny Jones told us one day last week that we can thank the drought for the brilliant fall colors we have here in Eagle Watch this year, a brilliance of colors seldom seen in this part of Cherokee County in recent years. Personally I would prefer duller colors and more rain.

            Penny was referring to several red maples we can see from our driveways, one across the street and two more just down the street. The scene was so beautiful that for several days I would began each day sitting in my wheelchair in the open doorway adsorbing that beauty that was enchanting our neighborhood.  

            The brilliance of the red maples were stunning and they reminded me of two hymns that begin with “There is beauty all around when there’s love at home;” and “There is sunshine in my soul today, more glorious and bright then glows in any earthly sky, for Jesus in my light.” As the sun shone on these trees it presented a painting that only the Creator could paint. As the scene in front of the house dimmed I turned and wheeled to the rear of the house and there observed in equal brilliance the yellows of the hickory trees hidden among the pines. The sunshine shines through the leaves clearly revealing the veins of the leaves even from a considerable distance. I marvel at the laws of nature in action.

            Even in the face of a devastating drought mankind is reminded again and again of the beauty that surrounds them. The brilliance of the red maples and yellow hickory trees are striking, as if a paradox, amidst the almost naked trees that surround them.  One such tree stands in our front yard. And except for a few leaves left dangling, waiting for their breeze of life to jolt and release them from their lofty perch, this tree is now naked.  It has completed its annual assignment – providing shade from the summer sun.

This scene reminded me of a movie I watched many years ago. Titled “The Last Leaf” it was about an elderly man living in nursing home watching leaves fall from a tree. Finally there was only one leaf left and it hung on tenaciously for life as was this elderly man clinging on to life. The closing scene shows the man closing his eyes for the last time just as the last leaf began its descent from the tree. It was a touching story, a reminder of the connection of man and nature and the role each plays in life.

Fall, with its changing colors, is a beautiful time of the year. But fall is also a reminder that each season has its own special kind of beauty – be it winter, spring, summer or fall – and that there is a time and place for each season, as there is a time and place for every season of man’s life.

As I ponder nature’s beauty that lies just beyond the doors of my home I realize just how lucky trees are. They are programmed for the seasons with their purpose determined for them. They don’t have to make choices like man does. They don’t have agency. Trees are very predictable, man is very unpredictable.

Individual agency is God’s great gift to man. Man is free to choose good or evil. But man is also responsible for the choices they make. Agency and responsibility are inseparable. I learned this nearly 50 years ago teaching several elderly ladies, ladies who wouldn’t seem so elderly to me today. My lesson was titled “Man’s Ladder of Life.” I used 2 Peter 1:4-7 as my text. Simply stated Peter’s counsel was to climb one’s  own personal ‘ladder of life’ one rung at a time being  sure one has a firm footing (understanding) of each rung before undertaking to master the next rung on life’s ladder. Peter’s ‘ladder of life’ rungs were faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness and charity. Peter’s ladder is challenging for all, but especially for those who want to achieve their highest potential – pure religion leading to exaltation.  

This lesson has stayed with me all these years and it continues to touch me, just as deeply as the sun shining on the red maple and yellow hickory trees that uplifted me last week. And now those once beautiful trees, after shedding their leaves, stand as naked as does the tree in my front yard with the laws of nature in total control and just as sure as man’s life is subject to the laws of God in this, his season of mortality.

Yes there is beauty all around, especially when there is love at home, and yes there is sunshine in the soul of all those who have raised their personal goal bars to attain charity, pure religion, a prerequisite for exaltation. Life was beautiful today.