A Composition of Nows

hello september picture 2 It’s almost hard to believe it’s September already. Tonight we start rehearsals for the Christmas play at my church. The leaves on the birch tree beside the deck are already yellowing and tumbling down to from the branches, littering the grass below. The air this morning is cool. Soon it will be boot-and-sweater weather and time for sitting around bonfires with friends, sparks flying up toward the night stars and the smoky scent of the fire mingling with the fresh, dewy autumn air. Soon the leaves will be emblazoned with the fiery hues of Fall and the air will be brisk and bright and full of restless energy.

The summer seems to have come and gone in a breath of hot air, impatient to leave, and now September greets us at the door, galoshes on and hot cider and cinnamon doughnuts in hand.

Sometimes the seasons are fickle. They don’t come when we want them and either last too long or not long enough.

It seems like life works a lot along the same lines. Each one of us goes through seasons in our lives—seasons of joy and sorrow, want and plenty.

Sometimes it seems like we’re stuck in a hateful season that we just can’t shake.

But while we’re always yearning for the next one, we’re missing out on the beauty of the one we’re in.

We can’t see the wonder all around us if we’re only looking straight ahead.

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven:” Ecclesiastes 3:1 WEB

God has a purpose for every season of our lives. What if, instead of wasting our energy hating it, we look for the purpose in it? What if we look for the beauty in the present? What if we learned to be content while we’re waiting for the next season to come?

It’s something I haven’t been too good at lately.

But in the words of Emily Dickinson—