I know, I know, it's not the most uplifting title I've ever come up with and it's certainly not a subject that is very pleasing to think about, but I've come to find a great solace in it's meaning.
With the onset of fall we see many changes in our environment. The days become shorter, mornings and evenings are getting cooler, and the foliage is preparing for the long grasp of winter. With little time left to enjoy the outdoors without having your ears fall off because of frostbite I decided to grab my bike and take it up a trail that I have previously been up this summer. I heard that the leaves had started to change color and that it was beautiful up there, so I decided to take advantage of a beautiful Saturday afternoon. I called my buddy, threw the bikes in the Jeep and headed up to the trail. I've blogged about it before and you can find it under the Gibson Jack Trail description on my other site.
We started up the trail and no sooner do you get into the canyon do you see the collage of different shades of greens, reds, oranges, and yellows. It's a beautiful site to see and to ride through. Not only have the trees started to prepare but the wildflowers as well. Most of the flower pedals have died and fallen off a long time ago and what remains are dried up stalks and leaves. This gives the ground a beautiful tan-brown color contrasted against the variant tree colors. The pine trees still remain their majestic dark green shade as they have for years. Seeing all these colors mixed together brings amazement to the mind at these wonderful creations.
Last week while I was down in Ogden I took the opportunity Sunday afternoon to take a relaxing drive up Ogden canyon and the Old Snowbasin Road to see the same thing, changing of the leaves. It's still a little early in the season to see the full change but it has already begun. I stopped off at one of my favorite overlook points along the drive to catch both Mt Ogden and also Pineview. Of course I took pictures to compare and contrast from when I was up there in spring.
I digress back to my title. What does the changing of the colors have to do with death's hidden beauty? Most of us know that these color changes happen just before the leaves die and fall off. Interestingly enough though is that leaves have already started dying a long time ago and this change of colors is part of that process.
I'm not a botanist but I do know that these intrinsic colors exist in the living leaf at all stages of its life but they are masked behind the powerful effects of chlorophyll and the brilliant green that it produces. This green produced by chlorophyll will persist and overpower the other colors as long is there is adequate water supply to give the tree the nutrients and energy it needs to sustain life. When that water supply diminishes and the tree can no longer sustain the vast amount of leaves it produces it sacrifices these appendages and stores that energy for itself to survive the winter. With this sacrifice energy is diverted from the chlorophyll and those brilliant oranges, yellows, and reds shine forth in all their glory right before the leaf is to perish. One can say that the trees true colors are manifested right before its leaves fall off. Many people venture out into the wild to see this magnificent transition from life to death, and most are amazed by the beauty that it brings. Now the question is can we apply this concept in our own mortal existence?
Like those deciduous trees, each of us have a "chlorophyll" that keeps us green until that time we are to traverse the wintered grasp of death. When the time comes for us or for those we love to pass through this transition of death we see a similar effect. Our chlorophyll effects begin to weaken and our true colors come forth. These colors are manifested in our actions and attitudes once we are faced with our own mortality. What become the reds, yellows, and oranges in our lives? Are they our experiences? What about our hopes? Maybe they're the examples we left for others. Whatever the case may be those colors will eventually shine through.
Unfortunately for most people, death is a grizzly, ugly topic that only brings pain and misery. Because of those feelings the world associates with death, they are blinded to the natural beauty that it brings out. Many times the world asks, "why me?" or "why them?" How can a loving God let such an ugly thing as death exist in this world? Why do disease and infirmity exist to torture His people?
Without the knowledge brought about through the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ we too would find ourselves viewing death this same way. However, that glorious revelation about the atonement of Jesus Christ sheds new light on the subject of death. As Paul said, “Oh death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Cor 15: 55, 57) Although death is still difficult for many of us, we are able to appreciate the beauty that shines forth because of it…knowing that after that long winter has passed, we will be brought up again in miraculous resurrection to our former, glorious green selves never again to fade way.
Death we cannot stop. Death we cannot avoid. We can however jump on our bikes and ride into its wilderness, appreciating it for all its beauty.
