The cololur of anxiety
Last weekend I stood in awe atop one of Mount Boucherie’s phenomenal hiking trails, surveying the beauty of the valley. This week I spent time both running on the Mission Park Greenway and sipping a coffee while seated on my favorite bench in Dilworth Mountain Park overlooking the golf course, valley and lake below. All I can say in response to each experience is, “Wow!” If there has been a more spectacular Fall Season I don’t remember it. The colours blazing from our valley and surrounding hillside defy description.
Autumn is in full bloom and more than a few comments have reached my ears about this being the most favorite time of year.
Yet, fall is not without its challenges. It is a season of distinct transition. We all know that the spectacular colour demanding current attention will soon disappear into naked greyness. The drive home from work, not to mention the drive to work will soon be undertaken in the dark. Garden hoses better be disconnected from their faucets (just a hint) or devastation will result. The fact that it is Fall means that Winter is just around the corner, a season which inevitably invokes less favorable feelings.
It has come in vogue to analyze our lives in terms of Seasons. Each of us experience the new beginnings of Spring, the vibrancy and abundance of Summer, the transition of Fall and the cold, dark days of Winter. Seasons come and go, each accompanied by a variety of emotions. Common to Fall is the anxiety that typically accompanies change and transition. While most of us do not fear change it nevertheless makes us anxious.
We are creatures of routine and habit and transition is often accompanied by a sense of uneasiness. One pastor referred to this season as “The Land Between.” We’re not where we were but we’re not yet where we’re going. Author Marilyn Ferguson puts it this way. “It's not so much that we're afraid of change or so in love with the old ways, but it's that place in between that we fear . . . . It's like being between trapezes. It's Linus when his blanket is in the dryer. There's nothing to hold on to.”
In seasons of change when that with which we are comfortable seems to be slipping away it becomes more important than ever to determine what is steadfast. It is in the Fall seasons of life that Scriptures like the 23rd Psalm become more meaningful than ever.
“The Lord is my Shepherd.” The Psalm goes on to describe some of the many uncertainties of life we each experience, made doable because of the ongoing presence of The Good Shepherd with us.
The same author also wrote frequently about God, describing Him in terms such as Stronghold and Refuge. Descriptions like those gain in value when one feels under attack of is experiencing slippery footing.
We are undoubtedly in a season of unequalled colour. It is spectacular! However, it is a vivid reminder that we are also in a season of unprecedented change and its accompanying anxiety.
Thank God for the unchanging stability we find through Him.