March 03, 2008
Beauty feeds the soul, wakens it, and brings it to life as nothing else
can."
Thomas Moore in Dark Nights of the Soul
Many folks find nature at its nadir in winter, and seeing nothing of note,
move from their fluorescent enhanced building to an enclosed heated vehicle,
eventually to another artificially lighted enclosure.
Winter still has the trump cards, but the time of hibernation is coming to a
close.
After our Mind, Body and Spirit group hiked around 40 Acre Rock near
Pageland last week, friend Steve Patterson noted in his blog: The wind was
cold on the rock, but maples had begun their reddening crusade to raise a
new banner in the name of rebirth. American Beeches clung tightly to their
brown leaves, yet unfallen. (I highly recommend his blog –
9balance9.wordpress.com)
Daffodils have played their hand, and buds are soon to burst open and become
beautiful flowers.
Baby birds will soon break out of eggs.
But I get ahead of myself. The cycle of life is still winter.
So we wait for spring – truly an art requiring patience and understanding.
When we pay attention to the particularity of things, and the
interconnectedness of all things, soul is revealed. And that can be on a
hike or having a thirty-minute listening session in the backyard.
Beholding beauty is being held by beauty.
The gradual changing of winter to spring comes during the season of Lent –
what an opportunity we have to move toward the person God intends.
In the bulb there is a flower; in the seed, an apple tree;
In cocoons, a hidden promise: butterflies will soon be free!
In the cold and snow of winter there’s a spring that waits to be,
Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.
Hymn of Promise (verse 1) U. M. Hymnal
© 1986 Hope Publishing Company by Natalie Sleeth.
