Dressing For the Season

October 4, 202214

Having trouble deciding what to wear these days? As the season transitions from summer to fall, it’s a dilemma for me. Here in So Cal. temperatures are still in the 80’s with no rain in sight. My body tells me to wear summer clothes, but my spirit wants to move on. 

Okay, I know this is not a subject or decision of any great importance especially in the grand scheme of things. It pales woefully in comparison to just about any other matter one may face in a day. Yet I stand before my closet frozen in muddled indecisiveness, the back of my mind echoing with old fashion rules— “You shouldn’t wear white after Labor Day,” or “Wear fall colors and leaf the pastels behind.”  

Okay, so I made up the last saying, but you get the point.  

Finally making the sensible choice of wearing a light-weight blouse in an autumn color, I step into my day with confidence. At least mornings and evenings have pleasantly cooled, and the fabric will keep me comfortable if it gets hot, I tell myself. Then another fashion choice of far greater consequence begins to ring in my mind’s ear. One that a woman made way back at the beginning of time. 

I wrote about that choice in a story and a poem that you’ll find in my book “Fresh Eyes: Seeing God in the Unexpected.” The poem is appropriately entitled: “Dressing for The Season.” As you read it here, you’ll be reminded of a choice that a certain well-known couple made. How the effects of their choice became one of Biblical proportions to all of mankind. You’ll also see how it led to a fashion attempt at covering their mistake. The choice began when they were tempted to NOT follow one simple rule given to them.  

We all make choices every day. Some are insignificant and hardly worth mentioning, but whatever our choices entail, Colossians 3:5 explains how we should clothe ourselves with things like, “compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.” Theses are the kind of clothes we should wear no matter what the weather or season.   

I hope you will see the humor in all of it too as you read my poem. I’d love to hear about your fall dilemmas and choices. Leave a comment about your struggles with transitioning into fall here and I’ll reply.

DRESSING FOR THE SEASON

The trees are dressed in blossoms

            Do you see?

And some are dancing in the breeze, 

            Their outfits new and clean

The leaves of green don’t mean a thing if we 

            Would put them on

Some folks tried it once,

            But now they are long gone

They thought if they could cover-up the shame they felt inside

            In the beauty of the branches, 

Their sin could surely hide.

With summer gone and this of course the fall,

            The color of their wardrobe

Seemed glorious to all

But soon the dry and weathered leaves upon their flesh did itch,

            And they heard the footsteps of the Lord

And behind the trees they ditched

With each crunch and crackle, 

            As He stepped into the garden

They knew somehow the season had changed 

            And with winter things would harden 

But look, they said, upon that hill

            A new tree has grown!

It’s spring again

            And from its’ branch new life 

Can now be sown

#fallcolors #autumnleaves #choices #paintings #poetry #scripture #Bible #fashion #seasons #books #blogpost