"Colors"

As seen in the HEARTbeat and the Village Voice

“Colors”

            One of the joys during this time of the year is driving.  The act of driving is not the joy, even though I tend to “NASCAR” on some of the curvy backroads in Arkansas.  The joy is seeing all the different colors in the trees and bushes.  While the pine trees retain their green, the other trees such as the oaks, maples, sycamores, and the pear trees burst forth with their distinctive hues.  It seems that this year’s colors are more brilliant than in years past.  When we have a dryer than normal spring and summer, the colors are not bright.  I’m guessing since we had an extremely wet Spring and early Summer, the trees received their much-needed nourishment in preparation of a Fall showing.

            How does all this happen?  Many people believe is it the weather that triggers the changing of the leaves.  While weather does play a minor part in the brilliance of the colors (like dryness dulls the colors of the leaves), it is the length of the daylight hours that determines the change.  As the day shortens in the Fall, chlorophyll, or the stuff in the leaves that causes the green color, begins to break down and the green fades into the different colors we see.

            Did all of this splendor just happen by chance?  Did the Big Bang theory make all this happen?  For me to answer yes to the questions may make you question my position as pastor.  But I tell you, the more we look at nature and how the different species act and interact, from plant to animals, the more I can assuredly point to one source, God the Creator.

            In the Creation story, God separated the waters and created dry ground on the second day.  On the third day on the dry ground He created all the plants and trees.  If that was all He did was to create, then I picture (if they could talk) the trees and plants saying, “Now what God?”  That could not happen for many reasons, but the only one that is valid is this:  on the day God created all the plants and trees He also set into motion their life cycle through the different seasons.  He set the life cycles of all living creatures at the point of creation.  To that I have to say, “Wow, God sure is smart!”

            Driving through the Ozark and Ouachita Mountains in the Fall is one of the favorite pastimes of my wife and I.  We marvel and annually say, “How can people say there is no God when we see such beauty in His creation?”

            Yes, there is a God, a God of creation.  Take time to view the beautiful array of colors God paints for us each Fall, and remember He is the master artist, the master sculptor, and the master creator who did all this as a testament to His love for us, and for all of His creation.