“A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you.”
Ezekiel 36:26
“When the ego weeps for what it has lost, the spirit rejoices for what it has found.”
Sufi Proverb
The very young, still spindly Monterrey Oak tree I had planted in my front yard got the full force of the Big Texas Freeze of 2021. First, doubled over with a heavy coat of ice, it looked on the verge of breaking. Happily, it straightened when I shook the ice off – a process that had to be repeated several times. Then the extended deep cold set in. Every single leaf died and turned brown. When the weather warmed, the wind blew and left the little tree completely bare. Well, this is it, I thought. This dear tree upon whom I have showered so much love isn’t going to make it. Sharing my story with a gardener at the Wildflower Center, she advised me that due to the youth of the tree, it indeed might not survive. However, she counseled a wait and see approach. Best of all, she told me that the leaves falling off was a good sign. The tree now would have all its energy to go into producing new leaves if that was to be its future. I prayed and I waited. Today, that tree is leafing out, completely covered! It’s going to be a beautiful spring. Prayerful patience pays off.
This last year looked a bit like that little Monterrey Oak – bent over and bare. The year’s multiple crises left me, and I’m guessing many of us, wondering how we were going to make it through. We do still have a way to go. And yet we are seeing that the barely evident buds on our branches did not die. We are starting to leaf out. Those tiny buds that looked so insignificant in the face of brutal cold were full of life all along. They were just biding their time.
What is the content of the new heart and spirit within you? What new life is showing itself? Is it a new depth of love for yourself and your fellow humans? A new commitment to fulfill your soul’s calling? A new fullness of peace? A more meaningful connection to God? More awareness of God’s Presence in the world? You add what is true for you. Whatever it is, trust it. Know that all through this last year we were filled with Divine Life. And now we are indeed leafing out. It’s going to be a beautiful spring.
In the Love and Light of the Christ,
Rev. Anna
