I walk alone in the woods in October, searching for God among the fallen leaves. Sometimes she meets me by the babbling brook. Sometimes I see him in a shaft of light shining through golden leaves. Sometimes I catch a glimpse of them disappearing around a bend in the trail, laughter echoing off among the trees like children playing. Yes, God is like children in autumn playing, calling me through the trees to join in.Â
I wrote this prose-poem last October while walking in one of my favorite nature sanctuaries. Nature tends to be where I feel closest to the divine, and autumn especially so, being my favorite season here in New England.
I remember being taken by a sense play that day in the woods, trying to maneuver some stepping stones across this little stream so I and future walkers could get across. I was struck by the sense that God also delights in play, that creation is a form of divine play. It’s something I’m trying to hold onto even as I get older.
You may notice the use of various gender pronouns for God. This is something I’ve been experimenting with at times in my writing the past few years. I understand this may come across as controversial to some, but I personally think there is scriptural and historical precedent for expanding our language around God beyond masculine terms to something more gender-full.
I really appreciate that, that you used different pronouns for God. I haven't studied much of this, but God as compared himself to a mother and God is Spirit, neither male nor female and both genders reflect his image.