on a cold Spring day

Snow.
On the first day of Spring.

I am thankful for this.
     quietly.  some might mug me for saying such things.

Yes, something about this is just so nice. 
     It beckons quiet.  space.  rest.
     And I still need that.  those.  still.

But also

It whispers truth that I desperately need to hear today:

Things are not always as they seem.

Present circumstances

    do not sum up Truth.

It looks like Winter.

It is not.

It is March 21.

It is the Vernal Equinox.

I don't care what it looks like, feels like, sounds like, tastes like . . .

The Season is Changing.

Today is cold, wet, grey.

But today is not the Last Word.

Things are trending warmer

     brighter

     newer

     whether it looks that way today

     or not.

It is Spring.

     The Now and the Not Yet.

The calendar says so.

And we Know so.

     Because this moment is not in charge,

     God is.

And He brings Spring

     Every.  Year.

     No matter how long and far It's cold hard hand reaches

     He always brings Spring.

     Always.

And so Truth keeps the Fire Lit

    In this otherwise cold heart

     And Hope burns out Despair today

and I am toasty warm

on a cold, Spring day.

(and I shellac some shimmery defiant coral hope onto my toes and declare to those lovely, lacy, stubborn flakes: Spring is coming.  Spring is here.)

"Look! I am doing a new thing . . ."


What truths are keeping your fire lit today?  C'mon and tell the rest of us!
Sometimes we need to help each other stoke those fires.