Life’s Refrain

I have been absolutely wowed by the autumn colors this year. I know other years have been good, too, but for some reason, this year has struck me as particularly spectacular. It feels like everywhere I look, there’s another brilliant red showing off.

All that beauty got me thinking about a song by the wonderful singer-songwriter Carrie Newcomer. Carrie’s music has been a significant part of the soundtrack of my life for over thirty years now. Coming out of the Quaker tradition, she has a finely tuned (in all senses) sensitivity to all that’s going on around her. She’s like Mary Oliver set to music–with her own gorgeous contributions, too. (Check out her substack and the podcast she does with Parker Palmer, if you get a chance)

The song, “Leaves Don’t Drop They Just Let Go,” considers what we can learn from fall, with the chorus asserting:

'Cause leaves don't drop they just let go
And make a space for seeds to grow
And every season brings a change
A tree is what a seed contains
To die and live is life's refrain

It's a song that I find deeply comforting--the beauty of it, the ease of it. The need for change to bring new life, the interconnectedness of spring and fall (Gerard Manley Hopkins has a similar thought in his famous poem of that same title). 

And yet, Newcomer observes in the bridge of the song, what it also does is make one aware of the enigmatic nature of it all, the wonder of God’s cycling the world. Part of our awe comes from the way it is all quite beyond us–leading us to mystery, indeed.

I've traveled through my history
From certainty to mystery
God speaks in rhyme in paradox
This I know is true.

Anyway, paraphrase does justice to neither nature or song, so I commend Carrie Newcomer's work to you as a mediation on all that autumn brings!