This fall I had the wonderful opportunity to attend a retreat at a beautiful camp in eastern Pennsylvania. During my free time, I took a walk enjoying the magnificence of the changing leaves — one of my favorite things about fall. I allowed God to speak to me through His marvelous creation, and as I did, this poem, celebrating the splendor of autumn and of His Spirit, came to me. The movement of the leaves and the way in which they yielded to the wind reminded me of John 3:8 where Jesus describes what people born of the Spirit should be like.

The Dead Leaves Dance

The dead leaves are dancing.

They have fallen from the trees.

They are crinkled and dry

yet they dance in the wind.

They rise and they fall;

they swirl and are swept away.

They are more free in death

than they ever were in life.

Their beautiful dance continues

only as they yield to the wind

and allow it to have its way.

The dead leaves dance

and I would be one of them.