Old apple tree, we’ll wassail thee
And hoping thou wilt bear.
The Lord does know where we shall be
To be merry another year.
  Apple Tree Wassail, Somerset, England

We had a McIntosh apple tree in our Chicago backyard. There was a hook in it so that you could attach a laundry line. In the summer it provided welcome shade. And then there were apples. They were rather small, but every year they would provide us with two or three apple pies and a few quarts of apple sauce.

One Saturday we came home to find the old apple tree had fallen over tearing its roots out of the ground. It was quite a shock. We never thought that someday the tree would die and no longer be part of our lives. I think that’s when I learned about the impermanence of this life. Things come into existence and then pass away. It is the way of creation.

I still haven’t entirely adjusted to the transiency of life. The house where my family lived for four generations was torn down. Family and friends have died, and I am aware of my own mortality.

The Psalmist was aware of the impermanence of life and contrasted it with God’s nature.

Lord, you have been our refuge
    from one generation to another.
Before the mountains were brought forth,
   or the earth and the world were made,
   you are God from everlasting, and world without end.

Amidst the changes and chances of this world, God remains unchanging and faithful.  Trust in the Lord.

Read Psalm 90 and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Wayne