Today is Take-Down-The-Tree Day, a kind of sad day that we must face every year. Most people where I live have already done this because I saw the trees on the side of the road last Tuesday & Wednesday as I took my son to school. That was a little harsh for me.

We’re always a little late with this, therefor we miss the city’s tree disposal day every year. I just can’t get myself to do it that quickly, right after the New Year, so we let the trees decompose in the back yard. Fortunately our back yard needs some filling in here and there, and it’s a fairly wild place anyway, so these trees continue to serve a purpose.

Packing the Christmas decorations away is a little sad but necessary. Seasons don’t last forever, they come and go and come back again a year later. It’s interesting how these changes give life variety and consistency at the same time. Life changes around us all the time in many ways, and we are in a constant process of growth and change as well, so consistency becomes very important for stability and security.

The cycle of seasonal change adds depth to life, just as growing up and aging bring depth to life. Imagine if there were no grandparents. What if people just gave birth, raised children, and then died when their children became adults. How awful would that be! The human race would have taken a lot longer to evolve and progress.

Seasons come and go every year, we remain the same person and yet changed by the passing of time. Life remains the same and yet change is happening constantly. We have different experiences every year, meet new people, learn new things. How boring it would be if nothing ever changed, and how difficult life would be if nothing were consistent. We learn so much, and receive so much, through loving our grandparents.

Even though I avoid the end of the holiday season every year, I have already welcomed the New Year, I have already made a new beginning and am welcoming change. I have to put the Christmas decorations away so they will be freshly available again at the end of the year. I have to put them away so I can clean my house and prepare for whatever life is bringing in this new year, even if it’s sadness or difficulty, “for these too shall pass”. (That’s what my mother always told me.)

I hope the new year is going well for you if you are reading this. If you have struggles as many of us do at this time, I hope you can embrace the changes while planting the consistency of eternal love in your heart. Reach out to others and help, or let them help you, so love can flow and heal what hurts.