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Finding God in Every Season
This past weekend I had the pleasure of going to the Philadelphia Museum of Art and I came across these four paintings that stopped me in my tracks. They are a depiction of the four seasons by Leon Frederic. Upon doing some research, I learned that he is one of those artists who isn’t nearly as well known as he deserves to be. He was a Belgian Symbolist painter, but unlike many Symbolists who filled canvases with mysterious or mythical scene, Frederic rooted his symbolism in ordinary people, nature, and the rhythm of life.
The placard on the wall for these paintings says, “With obsessive attention to detail, Frederic envisions the seasons as four prancing children. Enveloped by flowers and fruits, they absorb the earth’s energy (spring), sow seeds (summer), gather a harvest (fall), and fall asleep (winter).”
I encourage you to enlarge each of them and drink in the details. I would also like to offer a reflection on each season.
SUMMER: This is a time to live life to the fullest. Much of what we enjoy during summer is the result of work that has already been done—and grace that remains beyond our control. Gratitude is remembering that harvest is always a gift before it is an achievement. Every blessing is borrowed and every harvest is grace. In this painting we see a lot of wheat and little greenery. The angel’s wings are green and covered in flowers and her arms are opened and free—an apt portrayal of this season of a slower pace of life.
FALL: Trees never seem to panic when it’s time to lose their leaves. They simply let them go. Humans aren’t nearly so graceful. Perhaps we could learn a lesson: leaves don’t cling—they surrender. Letting go is not losing everything; it’s making room for what comes next. This angel is in a field of fruits and shows us this is a time of year to gather and prepare.
WINTER: Here we learn of the hidden work of God. God is never absent simply because nothing appears to be happening. Things may feel lifeless but the deepest work of God is often invisible. Waiting isn’t wasted—it’s preparation. Like the deep slumber of winter, this angel sleeps in a field of snow surrounded by dead flowers.
SPRING: In this season, we are reminded that underneath the surface, life is already at work. That’s often how God works with us. We want dramatic transformation but often God starts with roots. The angel is looking up which gives us a sense of wonder and awe, like a child discovering something new. Her blue wings draw our eyes upward as flowers burst around her.
Being Human connection: These paintings remind us of an important lesson: Every season reveals something different about how God works. No season lasts forever and every season is necessary.
Featured art: The Four Seasons: Spring, Summer, Winter, Fall, Leon Frederic, 1893-94