Just when it seems like I can’t wait another day for winter to end, the signs of spring appear in my high valley. Yes, there may be spring snowstorms at times, but winter’s icy grip cannot hold on much longer. New calves and lambs make their entrance to the world. Green shoots burst through the sod from life-giving bulbs. Tiny leaves unfurl on my rose bushes. It won’t be long until I can smell the roses’ heavenly perfume. Robins fan out in my yard, turning their heads towards the earth. Tiny flowers grow in the grass.
In The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Samuel Taylor Coleridge penned these words “He prayeth best, who loveth best All things both great and small; For the dear God who loveth us, He made and loveth all.” My mother had a close connection with nature and with nature’s Creator. Both of my parents imparted love and respect for nature, nurturing it at every opportunity. Nature is the best place to recharge, reconnect, resolve, and redirect. Out among the trees and plants, nature is healing.
One little plant, freshly springing out of the earth or a rock, reminds me how nature highlights hope. My mother loved gardening and plants. She had the Garden of Eden in her heart. She could not bear to throw away a healthy leaf or stem broken from a plant. She put it into water, sand, or soil and started another beautiful plant from the broken bits.
In her things, I came across a note my mother wrote, but had not yet mailed. The front of the card had Marjolein Bastin’s painting of dusky rose-pink peonies with green leaves, buds, and a butterfly. Inside, my mother wrote, “Here are some peonies for you – Just wonder if you could grow them in your area? The colors are so lovely & they make a gorgeous bouquet! Love – Jeannie.” The card did not get addressed, but it was just like her to spread beauty wherever she could.
To this day, I feel an irresistible attraction to nature and the pure joy of surrendering to the call of the wild. I love to hear a bird’s jubilant song as a harbinger of hope. One of my favorite things to do is to inhale the spicy, refreshing, healing scent of pine, fir, spruce, and balsam trees. At night, my heart beats faster to see the stars sprinkled across the galaxy. My mother’s love of nature spills over into my life in so many ways.
In nature, I contemplate the splendors of majesty, the mysteries of the Divine, and the themes of eternity. I feel closer to God in nature. The connection between God, human beings, and the natural world is an irresistible call to be answered; something to be experienced as often as possible. Just as Chiaroscuro uses the interplay of shadow and light to hide or to accentuate the most important elements in art, so nature uses light to reveal secrets. The light our first parents lost because of sin in the Garden of Eden will be restored. One day, there will be no dark shadows: all will be light and beauty, an unspoiled landscape of wonder to explore. I will see you there.
Today, I will satisfy my love of spring by seeing what else I can find in my own backyard. Some birds are calling me. I’ll see you outside!
I believe in love and forgiveness.
Take care,
Charlyne