Streams of Mercy

Each year I read The Fall of Freddie the Leaf, a wonderfully wise and simple story about a leaf named Freddie. How Freddie and his companion leaves change with the passing seasons, finally falling to the ground with winter’s snow, is an inspiring allegory of life and purpose.

“Freddie loved being a leaf. He loved his branch, his light leafy friends, his place high in the sky, the wind that jostled him about, the sun rays that warmed him, the moon that covered him with soft, white shadows.”

One day Freddie and Daniel, his best friend, were talking about their purpose, or reason for being. “To make things more pleasant for others is a reason for being …to make shade for old people who come to escape the heat of their homes; to provide a cool place for children to come and play; to fan with our leaves the picnickers who come to eat on checkered tablecloths … These are all reasons for being.”

One day things changed. “The same breezes that, in the past, had made them dance began to push and pull at their stems, almost as if they were angry. This caused some of the leaves to be torn from their branches and swept up in the wind, tossed about and dropped softly to the ground … This is what happens in the Fall, says Daniel. It’s time for leaves to change their homes – some say to die.” Freddie wants to know if the tree dies too. “Someday, Daniel replies, but there is something stronger than the tree. It is Life. That lasts forever and we are all a part of life.”

Freddie was afraid, and Daniel reassures him that we all fear what we don’t know. “It’s natural, Daniel reassures him … You were not afraid when Spring became Summer; you were not afraid when Summer became Fall. They were natural changes. Why should you be afraid of the season of changing homes, the season of dying?”

One cold morning, the wind came that took Freddie from his branch. “As he fell, he saw the whole tree for the first time. How strong and firm it was! He was sure that it would live for a long time and he knew that he had been a part of its life and it made him proud … Freddie landed on a clump of snow. It somehow felt soft and even warm. In this new position he was more comfortable than he had ever been. He closed his eyes and fell asleep. He did not know that Spring would follow Winter and that the snow would melt into water. He did not know that what appeared to be his useless dried self would join with the water and serve to make the tree stronger. Most of all, he did not know that there, asleep in the tree and the ground, were already plans for new leaves in the Spring.”

Many stories conclude with the words “The End” but not this one. The words on the final page of Freddie’s story - “The Beginning.”

As I enjoy these beautiful Fall days in Jackson Spring, with sunlight highlighting colorful leaves, I think of their purpose, their reason for being, and my own. I reflect on the seasons of my life and realize that I am a part of all that has been and all that will be. I’m reminded of a verse of a wonderful hymn, “Hymn of Promise”:

“In the bulb, there is a flower; in the seed, an apple tree;

in cocoons, a hidden promise: butterflies will soon be free!

In the cold and snow of winter, there’s a spring that waits to be,

Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see. “

Giving thanks for simple stories that remind us of deep truths, and for those streams of mercy, never ceasing.

Elizabeth