Time to Blaze

The trees continue to blush more each day, as if their secret is being exposed: they’ll be naked within the month.  Patches of reds appear in the midst of tree-green, suggesting that nozzles on giant cans spray paint have squirted a little here, a little there at the whim of a seasonal artist.

This year I’m watching the leaves more intently than in the past, as if their state mirrors my own aging.  As consistent green is mingled with strokes of color that make a final statement, I wonder if I’m entering a similar stage.  Perhaps it is time to for me blaze.

This morning a pastor spoke on Luke chapter 10.  “No one gets through life without being beaten, bruised, and left half-dead,” he said.  In other words, we all suffer.  He also reminded us that, “God desires mercy, not sacrifice.”  Thus as days pass and circumstances come and go, I may at times be the bloody man on the roadside – but at other times the Good Samaritan, blazing with mercy and compassion.