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Falling Leaves: A Living Parable on Letting Go

Falling Leaves: A Living Parable on Letting Go

Last updated on: October 9, 2026 at 3:57 pm by David Weiss

Falling Leaves: A Living Parable on Letting Go 2026-10-09T15:57:44-04:00 David Weiss

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Autumn Leaves on Skyline Drive from Wikimedia Commons, Manipulated by the Author

I’ve spent the vast majority of my life in the southeast corner of Pennsylvania. As such, I have developed an extreme disdain for Winter. My countdown to Spring starts about five days after Winter begins. I resonate with C.S. Lewis who expressed a time of utter despair in the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by describing a time when it was “always winter and never Christmas.” My favorite time of year is when the earth begins to warm and the Universe’s greatest Artist switches from his white palette to lush, lovely greens.

Down With Pumpkin Spice

It’s for this reason, that I am not overly fond of Autumn. It’s not so much the season as it is, I know what’s coming next. I would support a constitutional ban on advertising (or selling) anything pumpkin spice until at least October 1. Sometimes, I find myself watching the geese fly overhead and wish humans were migratory too, Still there is something undeniable. There are few things more beautiful than driving through a wooded valley, sporting foliage of nearly every color God created. While I love God’s green work best, even I will admit, Autumn is when He does some of His best work.

Skyline in Fall

My wife and I once took a road-trip along Virginia’s Skyline Drive in mid to late October and it was breathtaking. We had virtually no deadline for the trip, and so, in consideration of my photographer wife, we stopped at every scenic overlook along our route. The trip took us nine hours. I was on beauty overload, until a sobering thought hit me. We were getting so much joy out of looking at death. Or were we?

The Last Gasp

All those leaves that were so beautiful were on their last gasp. Before long they would lose their multicolored hues and fall to the ground brown and dead. Did God really make all this beauty, only to let it die? Couldn’t they just stay like this forever? Why did the trees have to lose the beauty they spent all year cultivating with the Master? I know this is the way of the world for trees, but I would soon learn why.

Don’t Snap

Another year, I was at a Fall youth retreat at a camp in the woods, at the foot of a mountain. It was the end of October when something unexpected happened. A freak snow storm hit. Now I’ve lived in this area most of my life and had experienced flurries in October before, but this was different. This was a monster storm for this area at that time of the year, that dumped over a foot of snow. It created a major problem. Most of the trees were still holding on to their foliage, and the foliage was holding the snow, until the branches began to snap. It sounded like World War Three in the woods that day, as hundred’s of branches snapped under the weight of the heavy snow. And that’s when it hit me.

A tree doesn’t lose its leaves in Autumn, it deliberately, and by design, lets them go.

Beauti-fall!

Surely the tree is in its most beautiful state in the Fall, but to hold onto what makes it so beautiful, would mean death. It strikes me that those falling, dying leaves are a living parable. What do we hold on to that we need to let go? What are the things that we feel bring beauty to our lives that are really just weighing us down? Could all that wright take us to the point where we snap? Maybe it’s a job, or a friendship, or a position, a hobby, a habit, even an addiction. Or maybe something that at one point felt good. It may have even been good. Maybe at one point, it even brought beauty or nourishment to our lives, but now it’s outlived that purpose and needs to be let go.

A Word of Caution Here

Do not let this column lead you into sin. I’m not talking about your marriage here, for example. I’m not talking about your family or any of the other areas where you made vows before God. Much like a tree, those things need to be cultivated. For the most part, letting the things I am speaking to go, will help in that cultivation. Stick with me.

The Leaves Are Not Done

Yes, the leaves have been let go. And yes, they fall to the ground to die and rot, but when they do, something wonderful happens. Their nutrients seep back into the soil, where they nourish the tree and help it to grow stronger and better. Some of the things we choose to let go, will end up helping us to grow.

Personal Application

If you’re a regular reader of this column. you know, I spent most of my life trying to be a professional artist/graphic designer, and for a while it paid my bills and brought me a limited amount of joy. The thing is the more I pressed into that career, the more stressful and the less enjoyable that work became. Still it felt like it was the only thing I was ever good at. It was what made me matter. I was an artist, and if I wasn’t an artist, who, or what, was I? Can I tell you who I was? I was a guy who was getting his identity from his work. I should have realized I was out on a limb and I needed to get my nourishment from the Lord. My work became an idol and I needed to let some things go. I needed to choose to let go of my dream and hold on to my source. Otherwise I was going to crack.

A Funny Thing.

And a funny thing happened. Once I let that pretty leaf of my art career go. I began to be nourished by my Source once again. That thing I left go, left the act of making art become fun again. Without all that pressure, I was able to nurture the relationships that mattered. Through letting go of my “pretty leaves,” God helped me to heal my relationships with my family. Further, He showed me a calling I never knew I wanted, and that thing that I chose to let go, ended up nourishing my new calling as well.

How Do We Know What to Shed?

The easiest way to know what to shed and when to shed it, as the tree sheds its leaves, is to spend time with our Lord, seeking His wisdom and help. Our Lord is not just a phenomenal artist, He is also an expert gardener. He knows just what to trim away, John 15:2 reminds us, “Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” God didn’t make you for discouragement and misery, trying to hold onto things that will stress you out and break you down. He created you to bear fruit. What in your life needs to be pruned?

But Wait There’s More

Those leaves the tree let go at one point served another purpose. Through photosynthesis, they nourished the tree. When the tree “chooses” to let the leaves go, it would seem like death by starvation for the tree. In fact, trees in Winter do look dead, but they’re not. With the surface ground frozen, and very little water and nourishment available, beneath the surface, the tree’s roots tunnel down, seeking water. This drives the roots deeper and makes the tree more able to withstand the pressures of the outside world.

Firmly Rooted

This thought reminds me of Jeremiah 17:8, “He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.” When we allow ourselves to become more and more firmly rooted in Jesus, He strengthens us to live more fruitful lives.

It’s strange and ironic, but I believe it to be true. Look at the living parable of falling leaves and realize, sometimes there’s a lot to be gained by letting some things go.

What do you need to let go?

General Christian

Creative Arts Ministry

About Dave Weiss

Dave Weiss is a pastor and a traveling speaker. He has written and/or illustrated many self-published books and has his MDIV and DMIN, both with a concentration in Creative Arts Ministry. He is married to his wife Dawn and has two adult sons and a grandson named David. You can see more about his ministry at AMOKArts.com You can read more about the author here.

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