I love it when the leaves fall so gently to the ground.
It makes me wish everybody and everything would follow their thoughtful ways.
Not once have I heard a leaf crash to the earth or take a downward route that is less than perfect.
Humans do quite the opposite.
When we fall down, we bellow and whine, looking for someone to blame.
At one time or another, we’ve all been severed from the source of our happiness, just as the leaves do. But they just let go, find a good landing spot and spiral to the grass below.
Not us.
We tumble, scream and create enemies. We see gloom when our branch releases us.
Leaves never complain about being withered and crispy. In truth, they bask in all the fuss made over their beauty, especially when strewn across a lawn or meadow.
When they finally land, they surely must be amazed at how the Creator arranged them so decorously.
But humans always see greener pastures over yonder. We suspect the whole thing might be rigged, and that somebody tricked us into letting go.
Most leaves have green faces, but there comes a day when they turn yellow, brown or red. And they embrace it.
Humans come in all hues, but our own color is the one that God prefers, or so it might seem.
Leaves seldom stay where they land. A good whiff of wind will take them to a neighbor’s yard, or across the street where the view is better.
So, they bounce and flutter. They end up in communities with other leaves, and they create vistas for all of us to adore.
I really think we should study our leafy friends as we watch them fly so heroically and elegantly to their new homes.
Had we their grace and character, we humans would survive the storms of politics, religion, family, business and philosophy.
With an ounce of carefree leafdom, we just might enjoy the ups and downs of this life, and find ourselves resembling something close to what our mother branches and father trees dreamed that we might become.
Autumn’s gentle leaves
Teach us your ways,
reveal all your faces.
Fly into our thoughts,
and rearrange our hearts,
dear leaves.
(Anonymous)
Rudy Taylor and his family publish three weekly newspapers in southeast Kansas, with offices in Independence, Caney, Sedan and Oswego.
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