“I would rather live in a world where my life is surrounded by mystery than live in a world so small that my mind could comprehend it.”

— Harry Emerson Fosdick

On Monday morning, as I walked down the sidewalk toward my healing class, I looked across the street and spotted a tree filled with green leaves.  In the midst of all that green, one tiny leaf burned with the vibrant red of Fall.  It was striking, and I kicked myself for leaving my camera at home.  I would have loved to capture that moment and have it available for another look.  As it is, I must carry it in my mind; because it carried such mystery for me.  When does a leaf know it is time to change color?  If one has turned red, why does the rest of the tree still hold onto its green?  In my whole life, I don’t ever remember actually seeing that moment of change before; but here it was, staring me right in the face.  It is likely that I have wandered past other trees at the time when their leaves began to change, but this time I saw it — took it in and paid attention to the mystery.

My mind turns to all the changes that have occurred in my own life this past year.  Again the word, transformation, pops into my awareness as I look at that single red leaf shining its color against a background of green.  It is a mystery.  My imagination paints a picture of myself, walking down a green sidewalk by the side of a green street, surrounded by the green sky of a green morning.  Only the sun glows red; and as I look down at my own hands, my feet, my body, I see that I also am glowing with the red of the sun.  Is this what transformation looks like, feels like, appears like against the backdrop of all that has taken place before the present moment?

We change all the time.  Who I am as I type these thoughts will not be the person who sits in this chair tomorrow.  Whatever comes my way today will alter me in ways I may not fully notice or comprehend.  I am thankful today for the time to reflect on the single red leaf in a tree of green.  It reminds me of the difference between change, which can move forward and backward, and transformation, which only goes ahead into the mystery that calls us to newness and rebirth.  Perhaps, today, I am transformed by the very act of marveling at the mystery and seeing myself in the midst of it all.