The Four Seasons

The argument about what came first always intrigued me. The basic one is about the chicken and the egg, which came first? But  in the order of creation I always wondered which season came first and I have come to the conclusion that the seasons follow the life of human beings.

Spring seems to me the first order of things. There are little spouts of growth pushing their heads up though mother earth. Trees are showing buds and leaves are appearing on bushes. Soon the grass is getting greener, flowers are showing their colors and the world seems to be waking up from a deep slumber. However everything hasn't settled in just yet. The roots have to go deeper into the soil. The early buds have to open. The flowers must bloom. This new birth is very much like human life as the baby pushes itself out of the mother's body, full of life, crying, wet from the mothers insides and ready to grow and flower.

Summer is the next step for nature's beginnings. Everything seems to be taking form and the form is healthy and strong. The days are longer and warmer and full of doings. The trees reach for the heavens with their branches full of green leaves fluttering in the air and providing nesting places for the birds and climbing for the squirrels. Youthful maturity is all around us as the air is warmer, the sea more inviting, the fish biting. And everything seems to be mating and creating and loving the light and strength of newness. As the summer comes to a close things seem to move slower as the sun's heat starts to wear down everything, the plants wilt because of the heat and lack of water. Everything is starting to age little by little. Humanity is great and strong when it is healthy and young and immortality seems it's destination. But even the great athletes of seven feet and two-hundred-fifty pounds of muscle start to feel the wear and tear of their doings, of their aging.

Autumn gives a bit of reprieve. The days begin to get shorter letting the height of the sun's heat cool in the evening skies with a heat-less orb so big and round light up the skies and stars blink against the darkness of the night skies. New colors are shooting forth from the trees as the leaves are preparing to drop off the branches and flowers, bushes and trees begin their fall into a coming Winter's sleep. The deeper into Autumn, the weaker all growth on earth becomes, grass browns and loses it's greenery, everything is bare, no flowers or leaves. Seemingly, the flicker of earth's candle is getting weaker and seems like it is entering old age. And so it is with humanity. Humanity, crawls, grows strong, works, breeds and just when it seems to be ready to enjoy all of it the flicker of life gets weaker and the flame starts to fade.

The start of Winter isn't so bad, the days feel brisk, not bone chilling. Some snow comes and the whiteness is beautiful. But soon the days are almost nonexistent. The evenings get long, and even longer  which makes one wish for the golden sunlight that summer brings. Soon the air is bone chilling cold, the snow turns to ice, the animals are sleeping, and quiet fill the days and nights. It is as though the world has gone into hibernation, or death has arrived. And so it is with life. As one gets older the days get shorter and soon the sweet sleep of death takes over an embattled body and mind. The long sleep of rejuvenation starts to take place.

For as the Poet says, "If Winter Comes Can Spring Be Far Behind?". And the cycle starts all over again, for the earth to be sure, and for those of us who have the faith, and even those who do not have the faith.
For our winter will also cycle into our renewed spring of a new life as sure as it does for the planet we call Earth, and this life which contains our souls.