A Lesson from the Leaves

 Perhaps it comes from being born in October, or because I’ve always been dramatic and loved
wearing costumes, but the autumn months have always had a magic about them that makes me
look forward to the drop in temperature, the apple harvest, and the color change in the leaves. Our
lesson on the way light reflects color and the cause of the red, orange, and yellow during autumn is
what I found meaningful during the past month.
     Most people know that the green color of leaves is caused by chlorophyll in the plant’s cells.
Chlorophyll is made by chloroplasts, an organelle similar to mitochondria or golgi bodies, except
chloroplasts are unique to plant cells. What most people probably didn’t know is what causes the
other colors that come during fall, and why some fall seasons have brighter colors than other years.
Anthocyanins are the cause of the red pigment in leaves during the fall and they are also what
makes fruits and vegetables red, purple, or blue. Because light is what produces color, the more
sunlight the leaves are exposed to will result in greater amounts of anthocyanins and brighter reds
in the trees.
    This is meaningful to me because I (as usual) have to take a spiritual tangent on everything, and
I love the metaphor the leaves give for the use of light. The formula is simple: the more light, the
brighter the color. Our culture and society places so much value and energy into celebrities, calling
them “stars”, and everyday men and women pour billions of dollars annually into looking like
“stars”. I have always associated true beauty and value with light. We receive light from the
Savior, and as we receive that light we become brighter and brighter, like a leaf and its supply of
anthocyanins.
    Another lesson from the leaves tells us that we reflect what we absorb. During the seasons of
darkness, the leaves are dull and abandon the brilliant colors for drab brown and gray. Fortunately
for us, we are not tied to a branch like the leaves, but have the choice of what we are exposed to
and how much light we will take in. If we are to be brilliant, we must choose the friends, the
media, the behavior that will bring out our personal anthocyanins.
    I love all the seasons God has created for us, but I love the autumn months the most. Autumn is
the season where the trees really shine and cause people to stand in awe. I find the biology of leaf
cells to be meaningful because it reminds me to absorb light and reflect that light everyday.