My yard has woken up.
I was out in it this week contemplating what it looks like to wake up from a winter. Turns out – it’s kind of messy.
And I was thinking about when people wake up from a winter as well. Last spring, I was just coming through a wintery season in my own life. I thought things would begin to bloom, but little did I know that an even deeper arctic season was coming. It was unexpected, deeply chilling and very bitter. And looked a lot like “dead.” Winter looks a lot like dead sometimes. But winter, as I was reminded this week in spiritual direction, is not dead. Winter is a season of dormancy, and in that season, roots grow down deep, seeking the nourishment they need for the next season of growth. And winter doesn’t last forever.
But sometimes when sleeping, dormant things (yards or spirits) wake up, it’s a little messy. When growth starts, it’s not all flowers and fruit. Some of it is weeds.
It can be hard to figure out what to do with all that messiness. And it’s even difficult to decide what is stuff to be removed or killed, and what should stay. Because I’ll be honest, even though I’ll admit that the yard looks pretty bad, when you get up close with those things, they’re kind of pretty. The weeds have intricate leaves and tiny purple flowers – and you know how I feel about purple!
Life can be like that too. When you come awake after a wintery season, some of the stuff that starts growing is weeds. But sometimes you look at those weeds and there’s something to them that you kind of like. So sorting through what should stay and what should go. Maybe everything doesn’t have to go at once. And the method you use for getting rid of the weeds and cultivating the good stuff might vary as well. One thing I can tell you, this sorting and cultivating process is not meant to be done alone. Not in a yard, and not in a life. For your yard – just hire someone. For your life, get yourself a good friend and a spiritual director. Both are essential.
Because once the winter ends, and the spring begins, the growth is unstoppable, and figuring out the parts to kill and the parts to cultivate is tricky and needs constant attention. But once sorted, the result is an abundance of good fruit.
Ready, set, GROW!
Kim
The Tree of Life
Psalm 1 (The Passion Translation)
1 What delight comes to the one who follows God’s ways!
He won’t walk in step with the wicked,
nor share the sinner’s way,
nor be found sitting in the scorner’s seat.
2 His pleasure and passion is remaining true to the Word of “I Am,”
meditating day and night in the true revelation of light.
3 He will be standing firm like a flourishing tree
planted by God’s design,
deeply rooted by the brooks of bliss,
bearing fruit in every season of his life.
He is never dry, never fainting,
ever blessed, ever prosperous.
4 But how different are the wicked.
All they are is dust in the wind—
driven away to destruction!
5 The wicked will not endure the day of judgment,
for God will not defend them.
Nothing they do will succeed or endure for long,
for they have no part with those who walk in truth.
6 But how different it is for the righteous!
The Lord embraces their paths as they move forward
while the way of the wicked leads only to doom.