As the maples turn to brilliant hues of gold and red, the water turns a deeper blue and the sky is often gray and rainy enhancing the beautiful colors of fall. This past Sunday, driving by the Weatherhead Hollow Pond in the early morning hours, puffy white steam rose off the pond around two fishermen in their boat while a brightly colored fox crossed the road and perched on a rock greeting us as we drove by. While the trees and grasses are turning to brighter colors, the feathers and fur of the brilliant yellow American goldfinches at my backyard feeders and white-tailed deer in the fields beyond Franklin Farm are turning darker. Of course there are different reasons for the reversing of colors. During winter, there is not enough light or water for photosynthesis and the trees rest, living off the food they stored during the summer. They shut down their food-making factories and green chlorophyll disappears from the leaves. Deer and birds shed and molt the beautiful coats of spring designed to impress others of their species for colors that will provide camouflage and thermoregulation. A popular idiom says, “Show your true colors” and it means to reveal who you really are. In the natural world, colors vary by season and all are “true.” We discover our characteristics and talents, gifts and loves throughout our lives and they are the colors of who we are. In the church, we cultivate spiritual practices like prayer, the study of scripture, fasting, simplicity, solitude, confession and worship to develop spiritual maturity that leads to Christ-likeness, the fullest expression of the color spectrum. All of life is transformation, changing into better versions of ourselves through experiences: some good and some painful; growing the equivalent of new feathers, fur or leaves for a new season of life that protect us and show the world who we are. Jesus says that we should let our light shine before people to glorify God. (Matthew 5:16) It’s not a far stretch to imagine letting our true colors shine glorifies God, especially seeing the beauty of these fall days in Western Massachusetts. So go ahead, show your true colors, every day! Rev. Cheryl L. Meachen Pastor Cheryl preaches at the Leyden United Methodist Church which holds inspired worship at 8:45 each Sunday morning at 15 West Leyden Road across from Town Hall. Our facilities are handicap accessible and we offer Sunday School during our worship services. Come as you are, there are no fashion police. We welcome everyone to share communion on the first Sunday of each month. After worship every week you are invited to join us in our downstairs fellowship hall for delicious fresh baked goodies and friendly conversation.
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AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
May 2016
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