Winter: Bleak or Blessed
I’m one of those strange creatures who loves winter! As the last leaves fall and the brisk winds come, I find an unmistakable excitement, or a joyful energy arise! As I walked today in a thick fog, blanketing the bare limbs, I pondered what IS the draw of winter. And these few thoughts appeared:
#1—the call to go WITHIN. Summer calls us out to play. Winter draws us in to ponder. All the noise and activity pulls us out into the hustle and bustle of a too-busy world. We are drawn OUT of ourselves, as we engage in the hectic pace of work and play, projects, pressures, productivity. Winter quiets so much of the outer noise, and the cold sweeping winds brush us inside—into a natural contemplative mood.
#2—If we can STAY within, within our own deep Soul space, we may discover deeper thoughts and yearnings that percolate in the Soul’s dwelling spaces. Perfect space for realizations and resolutions on how we want to live the next year of life! Winter is the perfect time to crack open a new journal, teasing out the deeper knowings that lie within.
#3—And in winter, the trees are finally able to be seen CLEARLY, as they are! Their true shape and structure now visible in stark relief. In winter we can see everything as it is, the hidden beauty and majesty made apparent. Maybe that’s why WE need winter—to slow down, come inside, and take time to see our own spiritual “forest for the trees.” Winter warm fires call us inside, to sit reflectively by the fire of our own spirit and listen in the season’s quiet to our deeper knowings and yearnings.
May this Advent season take us all WITHIN, as we wait for the coming of the Holy One.