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The stream
that was locked up for the winter
now ripples and
gurgles along its way.
-- John F.
Gardner
Winter presents us with a frozen world,
silent, sometimes forbidding. It seems like
such a harsh time, forcing us indoors,
letting us out only when we're wrapped in extra
woolens, extra boots, extra hats and mittens.
But
beneath the snow's blanket, the earth is
resting. Just as we sleep at night, the earth
naps, nurturing its roots and bulbs,
replenishing its moisture and minerals,
refreshing itself. Spring is the earth's first
stirring; it opens one eye, then another,
wiggles a toe, stretches, yawns.
The earth
rises, shaking leaves off, brushing twigs away.
It sends new shoots up to welcome the day. We,
too, are part of nature, and as such we
experience our own seasons. Sometimes we are
happy, full of energy, always able to handle
obstacles.
When we
are down, when things seem to be too much for us
to handle, we must remember that it is natural
and proper to feel that way, and that soon,
without our even trying, a new season will lift
our hearts.
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Home is the place where, when you have to
go there,
they have to take
you in.
-- Robert
Frost
Our home is a
place of roots, a place where we can always turn
in time of need.
Some of us may
have had the experience of being away from home
and not being able to make it on our own.
We know what a
relief it was to reach out at last and call our
family, who we knew would take us in.
We became
people in our homes, we learned to eat and walk
and talk there.
We feel
comfortable there, safe from the pressures of
the outside world.
It is up to us
to keep it safe and healthy by growing in love
and generosity there.
Home is a place
to really give of ourselves and put our best
into making it happy and secure.
It will affect
our futures more than almost anything else in
our lives. It deserves our prayers of
blessing.
It is our , the
source of our first feelings for others.
May we treasure
our home and the people who make up our family.
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I held a moment in my hand, brilliant as a
star,
fragile as a
flower, a shiny sliver out of one hour.
I
dropped it carelessly.
O God! I knew not I
held an opportunity.
-- Hazel Lee
Once, a
famous artist was hired to put stained glass
windows into a great cathedral. His eager young
apprentice pleaded for the chance to design just
one small window.
The
master artist feared an experiment on even a
small window would prove costly, but the
persistent young apprentice kept up his pleas.
Finally, the master agreed that he could try his
hand on one small window if he furnished his own
materials and worked on his own time.
The
enterprising apprentice began gathering bits of
glass his master had discarded, and set to work.
When the cathedral doors were open, people stood
in groups before the small window, praising its
delicate excellence.
Our
lives are like this. If we take the time to
gather together the moments and opportunities we
too often discard and waste, we find we can
weave them into something beautiful.
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Copyright © 2024 Hazelden
Betty Ford Foundation. All rights reserved. from
the book Today's Gift
Contemplating image Copyright © Pinterest
Some dividers from
Jeanne's Home Page (dead link 07/15/2011)
Transcendence, Flight
of the Aurora, and First Light images
Copyright © Kirk
Reinert
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