Fall Colors I

By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. Hebrews 11:3

While we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:18

Seeing color is an interesting concept. There is an entire science dedicated to studying color; how it is perceived by the human eye, where it originates in an object, the physics of various wavelengths and energy producing different colors, how light is absorbed and/or reflected, etc.

In the fall I have the good fortune of having this view in my backyard. The large tree of color in the picture is a cherry, with a smaller tamarack and forsythia toward the right. (This is one of the few pictures I have of my backyard without some deer or quail or turkeys in it. And they also like to eat the cherries this particular tree produces.)

In the summer, trees like this cherry make their own food by taking in carbon dioxide from the air and water from the soil. They use sunlight and a chemical called chlorophyll to produce oxygen and glucose, or sugar. The process is called photosynthesis. (We scientists like to use big words a lot. It makes some people I know feel very important).

The trees use the glucose to grow. The byproduct, oxygen, is most valuable for creatures like us to breathe. And the chemical chlorophyll used in photosynthesis is green in color.

Once summer is over, the tree stops making food. This is caused by the shorter daylight hours and cooler temperatures. The chlorophyll breaks down, and the green color goes away. As the green disappears, yellow and orange colors begin to show in the leaves.

One interesting thing is that the yellow and orange color was present all summer but was hidden by the green chlorophyll. My human eyes were just too weak to see everything that was there. All I could see was the visible green of the leaf during the summer months. Yet when what is seen on the surface is removed, I can now see clearly what is behind the visible – and is it cool to see!

The Bible talks a lot about faith. It says that without faith, we can’t even please God, because we first need to believe that He exists. But once I believed in Him and that He sent His Son Jesus to die for my sins, I started to see a whole lot of things that I never saw before. Just like the above Scriptures talk about. More than a lifetime worth of things thus far – and is it cool to see!

Hope you have a great day.