The Softening

The Softening 1

The softened soil drinks in the rain

     Those shoots struggling below the soil's imprisoning surface

         sharpen their stems and pierce their way through.

It began inconspicuously as cloudy gray rainy days

When ice gave way with the first cracking of the hardness....

      that trickle slid within and greeted the seeds and bulbs

               It seeped to the thirsty roots, lower still

                     to the great tree roots of generations.

Hard seed shells soften and split with the pressure of exploding life.

     Bulbs send out first the root, then the stem

          So it goes on

              all unseen in the heart of the earth.

As the heart of man dwells in darkness too,

   The softening comes as well to you.

In the desperate winter of soul

   it seeks out the life-giving flow

            and sends out trembling tendrils

                   which want to know

If  late Winter's rain means Joy or Woe.

Hopeful hearts look to May's floral array,

   Healing hearts to better April,

Hurting hearts hide still from March

        and see only the dismal drenching

              despite their parched hearts

         until they break through the hurt and probe the earth

              and welcome in the new found flow of life.

YOU work on hearts and soften as well

   as Dear Spirit's call waters with Word

You refresh all and call forth to life

   all can respond but the hardest of heart.

February's transition

February.... every day just a bit longer, sometimes warmer, or not.   It has always done that.  Those milky so-called sunny days as often as not turn into a snowstorm.   It thinks about Spring but changes its mind.

          My transition comes too.
 Indecision clouds the day, longing warms the ground until freezing fears chase all indoors to forget once more, and to wait for more signs of change.

Faith waits too in the transition from want to walk.  It accepts the pace prepared by a much wiser loving Lord who knows our slowness to move out at the faint prompting.

We need the fickle February as much as the earth.   The rest, the consideration of all that marches next  needs make soul space  for faith's growth.

Growth happens silently in the covered  places
Growth transforms unseen over days and weeks of transition.

When the Lord takes hold at last,
      it flowers forth to complete life  at His touch.

 

                                                 

Icefall

Even a rushing mountain stream can slow

when the winters' ice and snow

hamper what progress there was to make

and change the course the  waters take.

We sometimes freeze at cold environ

Unfree to flow and spend ourselves

on worthier tasks awaiting downstream.

Warm me, Lord,

awake this heart's trickle.

Your glow within melts even the hardest heart-cicles.

ME-lting

Snow does not stand a chance when the earth is too warm.
Snow cannot be formed if the air is too warm.

God does not remain when we feel warmed by our own complacency,
        or other directions of  passion.
God cannot be found within  hardened hearts,  in any environ.

Snow darkens over time as ground, foot and air pollute.
Snow can only be lightened  when renewed ....

Our God sees the soiled souls we wear on our shoulder.
And yet nears His presence at the chipping of cracks,
     and our hammered cries of repentence.

Then the flakes are free to fall and cover the gray
    and soften the stony brokeness
Till the melting of all and the bloom of rebirth.

So it goes, year after year, time and again
    You heal and forgive....

Work into me, Lord,  the softening Spring,
    so the life which becomes visible
      is  both You and me.....

Mountains and You....

Mountains in winter, or any time for that matter,  are a beautiful place to spend time.  
 We go to be close to nature.   Somehow they draw the stress from our heart as it pumps  harder to get our feet to move higher.

The place of refuge-- it has been safety from the enemies for centuries.
 The Rock that is higher, the fortress, all pictures of security, of rest.

Majesty when viewed from afar, so much higher, seemingly ageless.
Streams bursting forth from the depth to gather and flow to the valleys below.

Caution needs to be  taken when travelled through,  for at any time could be
                  storms lashing, lightning or the trap of fog or snow.
A trap for the unexperienced or unwise.


You created that grandeur, it still calls to our heart and satisfies an inner need.
You are much like that mountain when overwhelming load gathers to my soul,
       I feel as if walking  with the it uphill.
Then I walk with You through fragrant forests in those hills,  I find delight to my senses and heart.
Somewhere along the trail my burdens start dropping off to join last years leafy litter.

You are the cleft of the rock, the place to hide when in need of safety.

You are even more timeless than those stacks of stones.  Even the mountains may quake
   but you are a surer foundation, supporting us when seeking  heaven indeed.
You are to be feared, for unless we are the 'wise', having accepted the need for preparation,
     Your preparation, of Your making,, for the  journey You have given,
We cannot hope to complete the trek.

You, in winter of soul, or any time for that matter, are the most beautiful Person to spend life with.