The Fall

I do not mean what Adam and Eve did and what that has done to us.

I mean the fall, autumn. It is crazy. If you think about it.

Why in the world do the leaves do that? The colors. The variation.

We can determine how. Because of changes in the length of daylight and changes in temperature, chlorophyll breaks down, the leaves stop their food-making process, the green disappears. There are additional chemical changes that have to do with pigments that mix with chlorophyll residue which result in the variation of the reds, yellows, oranges, browns.

But why? Why would things “evolve” this way? What survival of the fittest benefit grows out of such changes? Where is the utilitarian purpose? Surely there are theories on such things.

Here’s my theory on why. I think God thought we’d like it. Like a sunrise (nod to G.K. Chesterton). Like a peacock. Like taste buds. Like music.

When God created the heavens and the earth, he created, among other things, the wonderful mystery of trees. How can a mighty maple tree grow up from one of those little helicopter seeds? How can that big thing be in there? How do time, water and sun do that? And then how is it that annually that tree puts out buds, then green leaves, then the leaves burst into color, and then the tree plays dead for months only to start the process over again.

Certainly we can scientifically analyze the process which is indeed something in and of itself. But the “why this way” remains beyond the scope of human logic. Reason, yes. Logic, no.

It is, like so many other things from God, simply a gift of the Creator to his Creation. A gift to enjoy.

So quick, before the winter comes and the trees again play dead, do that. Get out and enjoy the stunning craziness which is fall, God’s gift as winter looms.

Nothing new. But as we traveled to northern Michigan earlier this week, it is significant.