The Hidden Promise of Spring (if we are looking)
The Hidden Promise of Spring (if we are looking)
In the bulb there is a flower; in the seed, an apple tree;
And, in cocoons, a hidden promise: butterflies will soon be free!
And in the cold and snow of winter, there’s a spring that waits to be,
Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.
(Natalie Sleeth)
I wonder about my season, the one that God intends for me, on my journey, without fear.
Revealed in its season.
Hidden from our view, buried deep underground and protected from icy winter winds, bulbs pulsating with energy came into their season.
Unbeknownst to us, while we layered with scarfs, hats, and gloves, root systems were busy in a flurry of activity, expanding into new offshoots and lateral bulbs.
Then, in February, if we were looking, new green spikes broke through the hardened earth.
Now above ground, in their own time, they will erupt into colorful blooms.
The Hidden Promise of Spring (If We Are Looking)
In defiance of winter, this sapphire-blue crocus pushed up through crusted snow.
Splitting into two delicate teacup blooms, they romance us like two Olympic pairs of skaters on the ice. All this is revealed weeks before the calendar marks the Mid-March Vernal Equinox.
“If we are looking. Look deep into nature. You will understand everything better.” (Albert Einstein)
There is a calming simplicity in nature.
I ease deeply into her quiet domain, sliding into oneness with all I see. I connect with her at ground level where the earth meets the sky. My soul can sing high to the heavens while rooted in place. It is here that my two worlds meet. I teeter between my physical footing and my rising spirit.
I consider the two worlds of my crocus: one an underground powerhouse of energy and the other a full manifestation of that power.
There is a calming simplicity in nature. Click To Tweet
Am I in my full manifestation of what God intends for me?
Waiting here, in the in-between, at ground level, anything is possible, ready to be revealed . . . if I am looking . . . if I am not afraid.
Fear not. Be not afraid. By some counts, there are 365 versions of “Fear not” in the Bible, one for every day of the year.
Fear sneaks up on me though. In the shadows, it tiptoes by day, but becomes a towering force by night, prominent in my recurring dreams. What do I fear? Why do I fear? What does my subconscious want me to face?
In my dreams, I am on an outside service elevator being hoisted up the side of a tall building.
As it ascends, I feel the air brushing against my face. Alone and afraid of the increasing height and longing to be safely secured on solid ground, I ask how many floors up am I going.
To the eleventh floor is what I hear. I have no idea what this means but when we get there, I am relieved. I step off and see a colorful garden, beautiful and safe. Other dreams are variations of the same theme, fear of climbing high, fear of leaving the ground level.
Yet something new awaits, something to be revealed, something God alone can see, taking me from the comfort of ground level.
Yet something new awaits, something to be revealed, something God alone can see, taking me from the comfort of ground level. Click To Tweet
Is this a journey I need to take?
Is journeying leaving all we know behind? Some journeys are solo. Some are collective.
Today, we share a collective journey into an unknown realm: the highly contagious advancing virus known as Novel Coronavirus19.
Fear no longer tiptoes in the shadows. It is out in the open.
We fear our mortality and that of our loved ones. We are afraid for our country and our world.
Our lives have been altered.
Events canceled. International travel limited.
Entire
countries are in lockdown.
Schools closed indefinitely.
Our economy, and in many cases, our very livelihood is threatened.
We are living in a world of change; having lost much of what we call normal. How can we endure, adrift in a sea of uncertainty?
We are living in a world of change; having lost much of what we call normal. How can we endure, adrift in a sea of uncertainty? Click To Tweet
I think of the disciples, the fishermen.
Their world also was turned upside down.
Jesus said, Follow me. I will make you fishers of men.” They left everything they knew behind. Their livelihood. Their way of life. Even, their comfort zones.
Were they not afraid?
How did they leave it all to follow a path of uncertainty, an unknown journey that God placed before them?
They dropped their nets and followed. They came into their season—toward a hidden promise God alone could see.
In my dreams, I am being asked to leave my comfort zone.
Collectively, we have all left our comfort zones.
Maybe we just want to keep fishing.
“All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen.” (Emerson)
My resolve is being tested, both personally and as a member of my community. My struggle began before this outbreak and has since intensified to another dimension. To say that I have been grappling with this is an understatement.
Why dreams? Why am I afraid?
And, why do I fear what is to be revealed when the promise is already there? I look to the heavens for answers.
No answers came and for weeks I wandered in limbo, unsure of the way ahead.
The dreams continued, piercing my days as well as my nights. Fear became a shroud pulling me down into lonely places, blocking light. That is what fear does. It separates from the light, leaving us to fumble and trip in the dark.
This debilitating sense of loss was not my idea of journeying. I lost my footing, my bedrock. I look around and see the same loss of solid ground in the eyes of my friends.
And, why do I fear what is to be revealed when the promise is already there? I look to the heavens for answers. Click To Tweet
Then, after weeks of inner turmoil, a breakthrough.
The journey redefined: A circle.
My angels have a sense of humor. They will find inventive ways to slip thoughts into my stream of consciousness. They persist, lovingly, until I sit up and take notice.
Looking back, I can now see the attempts to get my attention. Like the first green spears of life breaking ground on a cold February morning, they went unnoticed. I was too busy focusing on loss and fearing loss.
If I continue forward, what do I lose? What do I leave behind?
But one word kept surfacing, persistently, until it got my full attention: that word was a circle.
It showed up in my online word puzzles, but I was not looking. My weekly sing-along group chose “Will the Circle be Unbroken” but I was not yet looking. It slipped into dreams I did not understand.
But one word kept surfacing, persistently, until it got my full attention: that word was a circle. Click To Tweet
But one dream broke through and I sat up and knew.
My mother-in-law used to train her small Yorkshire Terriers to jump through her arms that were outstretched into a circle. In my dream, I made a circle with my arms as she used to do and began to look for the pooch to jump through. But there was no dog.
Then I looked again and saw planet Earth encircled in my arms. It shone like a blue and white ball, continually spinning. I hugged this circle of life, held in my embrace. It was comforting. Earth and I were strengthening and healing together.
Circles. I discovered that our journeys are not linear. They are circles leading us back to our beginnings, our divine beginning. Genesis.
Journeys, even the scary ones, are about returning to self, not abandoning self. They are about discovering our hidden powerhouses of energy, burgeoning with new life. Hmmm. I wonder what we will have earned after this virus wains.
God intends a round trip for each of us. Could it be that the early disciples felt the same way? They were not leaving their lives but finding them.
We need not allow fear to keep us from the journey.
I think of circles as symbols of unity, fulfillment, and completion. We await the arc of our season. We are the bulbs planted here on Earth, to expand and grow, spreading out in new shoots.
Circles are inclusive. We are in this together. We will learn to adjust together. And, we will grow together. The promise is already there.
Finally, some humor: The day came when I finally paid attention.
And I sat up and laughed. My grandson Lucas and I were working on a project at the kitchen table when he suggested some music. He summoned Alexa to play Disney songs. The “Circle of Life” from The Lion King played. Who knew that Alexa had an inside connection to the almighty? The universe just placed an exclamation point on my quest.
Circles are inclusive. We are in this together. We will learn to adjust together. And, we will grow together. The promise is already there. Click To Tweet
A spring poem
There’s a song in every silence, seeking word and melody;
There’s dawn in every darkness, bringing hope to you and me.
From the past will come the future; what it holds, is a mystery,
Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see.
Spring is near, butterflies will soon be free.
We welcome spring as a jubilant force of nature. With no help
from us, she makes her debut. Burgeoning with life, she arrives
as fresh and pure as a youthful maiden, her face dusted with
tawny freckles. She needs no adornments. Her golden hair catches sunbeams on a
breeze. Like the mirror effect on this stilled lake, she reflects our rebirth. Keeping
her promise, she pulls us from the mundane to a cheery refrain of hope, using only the
high notes.
In our end is our beginning; in our time, infinity;
Further, in our doubt there is believing; in our life, eternity,
And, in our death, a resurrection; at the last, a victory,
Unrevealed until its season, something God alone can see. (Natalie Sleeth)
About the Author:
Dr. Gloria Hill is a seeker who dives into spiritual journeys, using gardens and the natural 
world as her muse.
Her lyrical writing includes a 360-degree approach to spiritual growth, citing researchers, writers, and scripture.
You can connect with her at gloriasstories.com!
Want more hope?
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The Hidden Promise of Spring (if we are looking)
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