Esther Barnes
English Period 111
October 31, 1932
There’s a touch of sadness in the air. All the world is ablaze with the beauty of nature.
Falsity: For beneath it all is death. And death is inevitable. All this superfluidity of splendor is only a compensation for that which must come.
Life begins in the spring; summer it is at its pinnacle; autumn sees its decline; and winter brings death. Spring brings new life. Everything is different. Even human beings have a rebirth. We acquire a new lease on life and living.
Summer—and all nature is in its glory. The trees, the birds, the flowers, the bees, all have reached their prime. That blaze of splendor is now a reality. It is not false—only beauty and happiness are evident. And yet the Unknown conquers these expressions of beauty and joyfulness.
Then comes the autumn. All things must have an ending, so autumn comes to warn us that complete destruction of all things beautiful must conquer. Life still exists, of course, but the color has changed. There is yet that splendor, that dictatorial manner, but it is rapidly waning. Vegetation is multi-chromatic. In the hills and the valleys one may see the manifestation of God’s artistic handiwork. One, too, may see it from another angle. Years of toil, affliction, sorrow, and unhappiness are clearly outlined on the faces of those who are in the decline of life.
So after the falling of the leaves and after the sufferings of years comes death inevitable. Like fog from the depth of the valley, stealthily but surely comes the ending of life. Materially it cannot last forever. So God takes His part in this drama of life and reincarnation.
After all, isn’t life inexplicable, romantic, so uncertain, so mysterious?
Teacher’s comment: Ex