The Spring of Things

“Seeds emerge as small plants when they break through their shell and reach for the sun, growing past the soil that has nurtured them. When flowers are ready they open to the light. In nature, growth is normal and natural. The same is true for us. We’re intended to stretch past who we perceive ourselves to be to grow into the glory of who we truly are.” – Rev Jane Beach

Morning Poem by Mary Oliver

Every morning
the world
is created.
Under the orange

sticks of the sun
the heaped
ashes of the night
turn into leaves again

and fasten themselves to the high branches–
and the ponds appear
like black cloth
on which are painted islands

of summer lilies.
If it is your nature
to be happy
you will swim away along the soft trails

for hours, your imagination
alighting everywhere.
And if your spirit
carries within it

the thorn
that is heavier than lead–
if it’s all you can do
to keep on trudging–

there is still
somewhere deep within you
a beast shouting that the earth
is exactly what it wanted–

each pond with its blazing lilies
is a prayer heard and answered
lavishly,
every morning,

whether or not
you have ever dared to be happy,
whether or not
you have ever dared to pray.”

Revel in the spring of things.
Flowers making their grand entrance to center stage.
The sun rise earlier, lingering later too.
The earth waking up each day calling all to anchor feet, raise arms.
A celebration of flourishing.
Winter to spring.
Hope fulfilled.
Vibrancy, color, beauty.
Without and within.
The dance of the spring of all things.
Dance.

“We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.”― Maya Angelou