Autumn Leaves

Forests can be classified in different ways and from different perspectives. For example, by latitude, the three main types of forests are tropical, temperate, and boreal. From the perspective of how their foliage reacts to seasonal changes, we have evergreen forests and deciduous forests. While the former consist entirely or mainly of trees that retain green foliage throughout the whole year, the latter are dominated by broad-leaved trees that lose their leaves each year. Ellen White drew helpful spiritual lessons from trees. The evergreens exemplify the commitment we should have to God and His Word. She stated, “In summer there is no noticeable difference between evergreens and other trees; but when the blasts of winter come, the evergreens remain unchanged, while other trees are stripped of their foliage. So the falsehearted professor may not now be distinguished from the real Christian, but the time [of religious intolerance] is just upon us when the difference will be apparent.”2 Deciduous trees provide an illustration of the spreading of Adventist literature around the world. On January 3, 1875, when the Seventh-day Adventist Church had only one printing press in Battle Creek, Michigan, Ellen White saw in vision printing presses in other countries printing the message in many languages.

Years later, she visited Basel, Switzerland, and Oslo, Norway, and recognized their newly established publishing houses as among those she had seen in the vision. She had a similar experience in the 1890s when she visited Echo Publishing House in Australia.3 And in 1878, she wrote that Adventist “publications must be multiplied, and scattered like the leaves of autumn. These silent messengers are enlightening and molding the minds of thousands in every country and in every clime.”4 As the deciduous forests cover the ground with their leaves during the autumn and winter seasons, so should we now help cover the whole world with Adventist publications.