SOME of you might remember the song “Catch A Falling Star” which commends putting it in your pocket and never letting it fade away. It is a lovely sentiment but nonetheless clearly an impossible dream.

Something I find more accessible and which brings great joy is to catch a falling leaf. In this autumn season as the weather cools and the days shorten there is something quite uplifting about trying to catch a leaf as it flutters towards the ground.

Every leaf will provide a challenge to the outstretched hands – some will fall directly down while others will rise and fall and rise again as they drift on the breeze.

Some people are skilled at catching a leaf while others, like me, will be endlessly frustrated as we reach out to make the catch only to find the leaf swished away by the movement of our hands and falling just beyond our grasp.

Wonderfully, at this time of year, it’s a game with a seemingly limitless supply of falling leaves, so the frustration is short-lived with another soon in sight.

For those who need to rake up the fallen leaves and clear them into piles, it can seem an unending task but the mulch that is produced will serve next year’s plant growth well.

This cycle of decay that brings about new life is a somewhat under-appreciated part of God’s creation care for our world. Often we notice only the ending of the life without seeing what it offers to the beginning of another.

For human life too we can misunderstand the role of an older person in bringing life and joy to those only now being born. This autumn why not try catching a leaf and ask yourself how you can nurture and bring joy to the next generation?

Rev Shona Hoad

Priest-in-charge, Tywardreath and Golant churches