Autumn’s coming on!

The electric blanket is on the bed, the central heating has been turned on for a few times in the evenings recently, and there is condensation on the car windows early in the mornings, so we can expect to be scraping the ice from the windscreens anytime soon! Yes Autumn is here, and the greenhouse has now been emptied of its plants, the leaves are changing colour in the garden, the apples are starting to fall and the picnic season is almost over for another year.

Saturday was a damp drizzily day, so we headed for Glasgow’s Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery, which is always worth a visit, but with far too many exhibits to see in one day. All Glasgow museums are ‘free of charge’ although in fact we contribute to their upkeep through local council tax.

There is a huge variety of things to see and no matter your taste, you are sure to find something to catch your interest.

The galleries themselves are a work of art and provide the perfect backdrop for the paintings and sculptors. I think how amazing it must be to have the gift and talent to create things of beauty, just starting from scratch! Here are just a few of the paintings I admire.

So now it’s time to get the daffodils and tulips potted up for Spring 2022 , and hopefully I can get started to that this week. When we arrived home from Kelvinside the rain had stopped so there was time for a quick look around the garden to see the flowers and plants still showing colour. Here are some pics.

Reflection

Thinking about art and gardens, don’t you think Autumn wonderfully displays the artistic hand of our great creator God? There are also a number of songs and poems written about “Autumn coming on” which highlight how swiftly life passes. I remember ‘the Gaithers’, singing this one which is rather sentimental and filled with pathos, but none the less captures the moment, especially as in life we face trials and sorrows.

Through changing seasons, We’ve shared life’s little days, It seems unreal, Our souvenirs still look so new! We reminisce, And must confess that this is true, We sang lullabies to babies cries, In the springtime, Oh, how the time seemed to fly, We had scarcely put the crib away, When, like magic, We looked up the aisle, And beheld a lovely bride, We waved goodbye as, one by one, They joined life’s parade, Then at a bugle call, He stood proud and tall, There went our baby! Tho’ seasons change, Hand in hand, we’ll travel on, Still in love, Tho’ autumn’s coming on. by Bill & Gloria Gaither

The writer of the book of Ecclesiastes finishes his dialogue in chapter 12 with the well known words: “Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, “I find no pleasure in them”. He then brilliantly goes on to poetically describe old age, by speaking of a time when legs shake, there is a fear of heights, eyes dim, teeth are few and hearing is a problem. I always smile when I read that chapter, for even although the message is to be taken seriously, I am so grateful for our National Health Service which provides health care free at the point of need. Now old people here are provided as needed with ‘Zimmers’ to help them walk, cataract operations to implant new eye lenses, false teeth and hearing aids! And am I glad! 🙂

But in spite of our National Health Service life moves inexorably on! At Church recently we were looking at a verse from 2 Samuel 14.14 which says “Like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be recovered, so we must die. But that is not what God desires; rather, he devises ways so that a banished person does not remain banished from him.” So what plan did God devise that we might escape banishnent from Him and the finality of death? One word answer – JESUS! His name you see means ‘Saviour’. By His substitutionary death, the sinless Saviour bore our sins on the cross at Calvary, was buried and rose again to God’s right hand. Now he offers forgiveness and new life – FREE. That’s why He said, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” John 11:25

It’s good to remember our Creator while we can, it’s never too late!

Matthew