SNOWBOUND...

 Looking out at the melting snow..

  I know

the sunshine will soon bring clearing.
...Even so...the standing water and saturated soil
will remind us for days
of being covered...
rendered helpless
to nature's ways.

Just as much our lives
become enveloped
and our joy concealed....
frozen in it's moment
until warmed by some
special friend...
Someone especially sent..
Maybe to hold…
Or just to remind us of being held.

Right after Christmas is the perfect time to look back and examine our hearts.  What is Jesus saying to me these days after Christmas?  What is he asking me?  What is he inviting me to do?  He won't be asking us to repeat our account of what happened, in terms of who was right and who was wrong.  Jesus will always draw us to himself, always inviting us into the mystery of the power of surrender.  Jesus is offering us a chance to stay longer in that stable, next to the manger, to draw deeper from the mystery of his self-sacrificing love. Stronger in the power of the Holy Spirit which He so graciously provided on his ascent into Heaven.

“After Christmas…”

 And the Star...

It still shines.

The holiday

May be over...

But the celebration

Is year long?

The gifts we enjoy.

The feeling we aspire...

To last each day

And enhance a desire...

To care.

To share.

And be aware...

Of need.

Each Christmas we

Plant seeds.

We water throughout the year

And God gives growth...

Until spring unleashes

Its beauty and green.

His majesty may seem to be hidden

During winters drear and cold…

But we continue to hold

To His promise to be with us always...

Even until the end of the age.