Fortune Teller's Fall

Tuesday, May 21, 2013 Posted by Katie

When I was in elementary school, the only Fall leaves I ever saw were those stapled to the bulletin boards in our classroom. For me, Fall was only in pictures. Otherwise, it was just the time in southern Louisiana when you might (**might) have to grab a sweater.

It wasn’t until I headed to boarding school up in Richmond, Virginia that I saw my first real fall colors in person. They were magnificent. I’m sure it helped that my school/home was gorgeous and that I spent the peak leaf weekend in Williamsburg with my dad. It was the first Parent’s Weekend, and the first time I had seen either of my parents since school started (my mom had to stay home with my other siblings in South America). That was a Fall of immeasurable change…changes that I anguished over in anticipation of. And yet, it proved to be magnificent.

That’s the thing with change, isn’t it? It could be so subtle that you just need to pull on a sweater. Or it could be so extreme, you’ll be calling your folks, who now live in another country, to tell them it was as cold as 32 degrees outside (that’s crazy-cold for Cajuns, chere). It could be like witnessing an explosion of color in nature that no picture could ever truly capture, and experiencing an unforgettable weekend alone with your dad (a rarity in a family with four kids!).

Since change can vary so greatly, why is it that we tend to foretell its woes when we know change is coming? Christianity tends to frown upon fortune telling, so why do it? Are we at a carnival?

Nope.

Take off those big hoop earrings and step away from the crystal ball.

Step away.

Then grab some Truth, take a look at change again, and enjoy the wonder and mystery of the transformations that life can bring. After all, change could be magnificent.

(That will be one token for Mother Fortuna. Thank you.)