To the Earth Below

“You know that the antidote to exhaustion is not necessarily rest? … The antidote to exhaustion is wholeheartedness.”― David Whyte, Crossing the Unknown Sea

Winter Snow
Lyrics by Chris Tomlin, sung by Audrey Assad

“You could’ve come like a mighty storm
With all the strength of a hurricane
You could’ve come like a forest fire
With the power of heaven in Your flame

But You came like a winter snow
Quiet and soft and slow
Falling from the sky in the night
To the Earth below

Oh, You could’ve swept in like a tidal wave
Or a big ocean to ravish our hearts
You could have come through like a roaring flood
To wipe away the things that we’ve scarred

Oh, but He came like a winter snow
So quiet, so soft, so slow
Falling from the sky in the night
To the Earth below”

Waking to a coating of fresh snow.
First real one of the season.
A surprise.
Quiet. Soft. Slow.
Still. Small. Hidden.
Present.
Beautiful.
Advent summed up.
Let it unfold in your heart.
In the waiting.
In the winding roads.
In the delays and detours.
Spring blooming in winter.

“But what would that be like
feeling the tide rise
out of the numbness inside”― David Whyte, Where Many Rivers Meet