And Then There Is Winter

Sometimes a season leaves you, subtly…
Perhaps it’s annoyed at some level, were it possible, that its inconspicuous retreat falls in the spotlight of headline barkers and conversation starters. Sometimes it’s done its thing, served its purpose, and ever so quietly fades into a crowd of days gone by.

Sometimes a season lingers…
Clumsily, begrudgingly, perhaps imposingly without regard for the invisible boundaries we’ve clearly etched on our calendars and the backs of our minds. Sometimes the long summer heat stammers into October, or springtime rains and storms wear out their welcome well into midyear.

And then there is winter.

It’s easy to love spring’s renewal.
We’ll suffer the allergies, assuaged by the beauty of blossoms, endure the awakening bugs and their bites as we savor the sweet and cheery songs of the birds who mercilessly devour them. Even those lumbering storms will be a welcomed diversion when their thunder is more surly than scary with rains that soothe rather than startle.

It’s easy to delight in the freedom of summertime.

Beautiful sunrises and breathtaking twilights. Campouts and amusement parks, beaches to romp and forest trails to hike. Graduations and weddings, picnics and play dates. For all the heat, it seems to invite both relaxation and adventure as if giving each of us permission to lighten up, go have fun, and make memories.

It’s easy to bask in autumn’s colors and crisp evening air.

It gently reminds of a return to routines as it slowly expands nature’s color palette into an explosion of glorious hues. Occasions trickle in with candies and masks, parties and parades, memorials and feasts, door busters and greeting cards – all distracting from the disappearing leaves and lowering sun.

And then there is winter.

It’s easy to dread his cold and sharpened winds, his wet and forbidding air, skies burdened with pastels and grays, and his uninviting company. Certainly, some celebrate his snows of the north and dormant woods of the south in various ways. Yet seldom will someone speak of winter with regard and favor. We see him, too often, for his harshest elements rather than his heart… indeed, his warmth.

Heart? Warmth?

Unlike any other times of the year, winter subdues our distractions and offers needed space to recenter and focus. The first ten days are punctuated with the holiday celebrations and the wistfulness of the closing of a year.

And then?
There is winter…

It commenced with the last vestiges of a year’s life in retreat, nestling it away in the crevices and trunks of trees, living rooms and comfy chairs beside a gentle fire or a glowing candle. It bade us all go inside – not to wait nor rest, but to reflect, look within, to purge the unimportant, and to concentrate the essential. To ready our spirits.

Truly, winter takes us from life to death to life again.

We can bemoan the falling of once beautiful leaves, but the branches that bear them remain. We can lament the departure of birds and quieted skies, but their return performance is already booked. We can resent the cold, the rain, the snow and the dark, but the sky and its many moods spin with the season anyway, depriving us of nothing and offering us some needed separation from all that came before.

Today was the last day of winter. And it left me better off than when it found me three months ago.
Not because of anything it did for me.
Not because of what it obliged me.
Not because of surprises and changes of joy and sorrow it framed for me.

But because it showed me where I need to be, on a certain day, and created for me a special, warm opportunity to be renewed.

In every season there has been loss and gain, victory and tragedy, emptiness and fulfillment, hope and despair. We’re promised nothing but the moment we have. We’re assured nothing beyond the covenant of the Divine.

Whether we celebrate or suffer is not a matter of time or of season. It’s a matter of self-awareness and being aligned with the heart of God Himself.

For He who is outside of time, who is timeless has reduced Himself to our moments, every moment… the “Ageless Romancer” with unrelenting love in pursuit of each one of us.

Whatever joy or laughter fills me is amplified through Him.
Whatever anguish or defeat empties me resonates with Him.
And like our Father, we too are timeless, measuring our lives not by the days before us or behind but by the constant, eternal progression of seasons.

Spring is upon us now, reminding us of “cleaning” the house and caring for yards, planning big plans for the year and wrapping up school. Summer will be here before we know it and it’s going to be hot, busy, adventurous and… hot. And just like that it’ll be autumn, kids back in school and the inevitable stress of holidays and shopping.

Sometimes a season leaves you tired, spent, hurting, searching, even wanting…
Sometimes a season lingers, bringing you demands, limits, pushes and pulls, even defeat…

…and then there is winter.

Taking you from life to death to life again.

Leaving you better off than when he found you.

Waiting patiently – and warmly – for your return…