in the weeks following Jesus’ resurrection, we will have a series of posts on the refuge blog focused on “signs of real life”. we’ll also continue our conversations on saturday evenings in the same vein. enjoy this one by michelle.
Signs of Life
Signs of life so easily buried.
Illusions shattered, winter hardens the dry ground.
Even as the robins begin their spring symphony, sleeting rain and snow weigh down their light feathers, as the harshness of winter intrudes yet again on the signs of new life.
The song of love invites me to join its chorus. I resist.
Why sing along when winter will just come again
And bury my song under freezing blankets of snow.
I bury the signs of life, and my heart hardens.
Five robins now perch on the branches outside my window.
Their light and hopeful aria really, really bothers me.
Stupid birds, why do they sing even as the snow piles on top of their orange beaks?
Wisdom whispers to me, “They sing because that’s what they were made to do.”
Why love? Why forgive? The robins’ song reminds me, that’s what I’m created for.
I can only choose to sing or not sing.
I sing, one warbly note, then another.
Signs of life in my cold winter’s heart tell me spring is finally here.
As I come as a newbie to the practice of Lent, I am drawn like a child to the wondrous Lenten stories. The ironic fact is that in the last few years, I have let go of my entire lifelong collection of core theological beliefs, even some days, of my belief in God. Why then I ask myself, celebrate Lent, or any of the Church Liturgical Calendar? As I ponder that paradox, I have simply chosen to come to Lent in freedom, no strings attached, in beauty and simplicity.
