Autumnal Light
David Fletcher
As long as I can remember, I have always loved the changing seasons from the glorious, long, sunny days of summer to the cooler, shorter days of Autumn.
With the sun lower on the horizon a new, gentler quality to the light emerges.
One of my favourite experiences in Autumn, is to go for walks or bike rides in the countryside. I have always been fascinated by the incandescent light that glistens through the leaves on trees, as the boughs and branches gracefully bend in the breeze.
It is in this context that I have been thinking upon Psalm 27 recently.
The Lord is my light and my salvation — whom shall I fear?
Psalm 27:1
The Light flutters over my eyes and face like echoes from another, heavenly world. Like healing glimpses of a happy childhood memory. Like flitting, flashes of a paradisal land, we all used to know, but somehow has been erased from our minds. Was there once a Garden where we belonged? Is there a House where we can be at peace, rest, celebrate, dance and sing?
One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.
Psalm 27:4
The dappled, golden light is healing.
In the Light is Hope and hope opens to us the radiant, pastel horizon of Faith.
Faith & Hope. How scandalous? The darkness scurries to silence their arrival to cloak and suffocate their existence.
For the song writer, psalmist, on their pilgrimage through a darkened and callous world, “The Light” is a welcome relief.
When the wicked advance against me to devour/slander me, it is my enemies and my foes who will stumble and fall.
Psalm 27:2
In the dark we cry out for help!
Hear my voice when I call, Lord; be merciful to me and answer me.
Psalm 27:7
In the gentle Presence of the autumnal light, cascading through the leaves, the darkness flees. Suddenly, the darkness in society that surrounds us, or in the pitch black night, that wrestles with our souls, is not the final word.
For the Psalmist, the Lord (Adonai), the God of Israel, is his Light and Salvation. As blessed 21st century believers, we are able to read the New Covenant scriptures. We get to learn about Jesus, God’s Son. In one story, Jesus identifies himself with the Light:
“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
John 8:12
The Light whispers in a gentle, melodious Voice. A song of eternity calling us onward. The One our hearts long for. A Person of Love, who longs to tenderly kiss our faces, embrace our broken bodies and welcome us Home.
My heart says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, Lord, I will seek.
Psalm 27:8
As Autumn does its work, bringing closure to summer and preparing us for the dark and cold of winter. On those, rare, but blessed, sunny days, may we remember as the psalmist wrote:
The Lord is my Light and Salvation
Psalm 27:1
