Redeeming the Season

<p>Leisa wanted a way to redeem the season. So many of the autumn decorations she saw seemed to celebrate death, sometimes in gruesome and macabre ways. &nbsp;</p> <p>Determined to counter the darkness in some small way, Leisa began to write things she was grateful for with a permanent marker on a large pumpkin. &ldquo;Sunshine&rdquo; was the first item. Soon visitors were adding to her list. Some entries were whimsical: &ldquo;doodling,&rdquo; for instance. Others were practical: &ldquo;a warm house&rdquo;; &ldquo;a working car.&rdquo; Still others were poignant, like the name of a departed loved one. A chain of gratitude began to wind its way around the pumpkin.</p> <p>Psalm 104 offers a litany of praise to God for things we easily overlook. &ldquo;[God] makes springs pour water into the ravines,&rdquo; sang the poet (v. 10). &ldquo;He makes grass grow for the cattle,&nbsp;and plants for people to cultivate&rdquo; (v. 14). Even the night is seen as good and fitting. &ldquo;You bring darkness, it becomes night,&nbsp;and all the beasts of the forest prowl&rdquo; (v. 20). But then, &ldquo;The sun rises. . . . People go out to their work,&nbsp;to their labor until evening&rdquo; (vv. 22&ndash;23). For all these things, the psalmist concluded, &ldquo;I will sing praise to my God as long as I live&rdquo; (v. 33).</p> <p>In a world that doesn&rsquo;t know how to deal with death, even the smallest offering of praise to our Creator can become a shining contrast of hope.</p>