By Jeannetter Doran
Winter comes with a deep sleep of the land when all possibility of life seems bleak and barren. Darkness and cold settle over all. Bare branches give no hope of future growth. Yet soon we see how lovingly the gentle snow blankets the fields, giving needed protection. Later we watch melting snow providing the wanted water. As the necessary winter of the land prepares for the future abundance our soul’s fruition depends on its own winters.
In our soul’s winter it’s a time of solitude and waiting, a time of prayer. Yes, God is hidden in the darkness but the stars do shine more the darker the sky. Our winters can be long and intense. Just as the land’s bleakness and sleep seem long and severe so, too in our soul this is felt. In our heart we seem to find no joy or meaning. It appears to be a time of emptiness, and absence. This is also a precious time for secret soul growth when one nurtures the seeds of hope and faith. Holding on in the darkness and nothingness we believe God is with us and will carry us through our winter to the joys of a heavenly spring. We grasp with all our hearts our God, who is near in the dark. We trust and believe we will never be abandoned but someday will hear our Beloved call our name with great tenderness. Our winters are times when we learn to live in the light of faith while feeling surrounded by darkness. How necessary it is to wait in our spiritual journey, to wait in silence, to try to turn off all external stimuli and search with all one’s being for interior silence. To penetrate into the silence as the seed enters the womb of the soil. As we come to listen to and to taste the silence we find rest in the silence and becoming more enfolded in the silence a light will shine from our innermost being. This light will eventually radiate out to all about us as the spring blossoms diffuse their delicate fragrance. May we all know the vast beauty of this radiant fragrance.
In our soul’s winter it’s a time of solitude and waiting, a time of prayer. Yes, God is hidden in the darkness but the stars do shine more the darker the sky. Our winters can be long and intense. Just as the land’s bleakness and sleep seem long and severe so, too in our soul this is felt. In our heart we seem to find no joy or meaning. It appears to be a time of emptiness, and absence. This is also a precious time for secret soul growth when one nurtures the seeds of hope and faith. Holding on in the darkness and nothingness we believe God is with us and will carry us through our winter to the joys of a heavenly spring. We grasp with all our hearts our God, who is near in the dark. We trust and believe we will never be abandoned but someday will hear our Beloved call our name with great tenderness. Our winters are times when we learn to live in the light of faith while feeling surrounded by darkness. How necessary it is to wait in our spiritual journey, to wait in silence, to try to turn off all external stimuli and search with all one’s being for interior silence. To penetrate into the silence as the seed enters the womb of the soil. As we come to listen to and to taste the silence we find rest in the silence and becoming more enfolded in the silence a light will shine from our innermost being. This light will eventually radiate out to all about us as the spring blossoms diffuse their delicate fragrance. May we all know the vast beauty of this radiant fragrance.
