Spring Growth

“For as the  soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign Lord will make  righteousness  and praise spring up before all nations.” Isaiah 61:11  (NKJV)

Each season of the year has its  attraction, but there  is  something special about spring. One of my favorite poets wrote in his usual exuberance, “Nothing is as beautiful as spring.”  Those words by Gerard Manley Hopkins  may seem like an exaggeration, but they come  very close to the truth. Spring is an incredibly  beautiful time of the year,  and its arrival is  much anticipated.  The world feels wonderful with all the new growth and aliveness around us. When the first shoots of  jonquils are popping up and the sun begins to  make its warmth felt, it’s easy to find  total strangers  engaging in spontaneous conversation about the “gorgeous weather.”

If  you’ve lived in differnt parts of the country, you’ve  associated  the spring with the plants in those places. I know  of one northern  suburb  that is overrun with  azaleas  of varied  colors  as well as   the abundance of yellow forsythia. Here in the South  there are the  flourishing  dogwoods in their deep reds, purples, and whites.  The world at this time of year tells us of “all things bright and beautiful” that “the Lord our God has made.”

However, spring is not  just a pretty face;  it has  depth of meaning hidden in it. The spring tells us that the power of  renewal that takes place in the natural world around us is possible in our own lives. The message of renewal  is about personal  new growth spiritually, emotionally, and intellectually.  Also, the spring  encourages us through  its resilience, coming back year after year from dead winter, letting us know  that we too  can rebound from our setbacks and difficulties.  And it speaks  to us of hope  that our  winter dullness is gone,  cast off, and we are ready for a fresh start. Our Sovereing Lord can “make righteousness and praise spring up” in us. His refreshing, transforming power that makes the green things grow can make us  sprout in new and productive ways.

In the secret places of our hearts, may the Spirit of our  Creator God   spring up within  us today and  bring  us new and  abundant  life.

Always,

Judith

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“The beautiful spring came, and when Nature resumes her
loveliness, the human soul is apt to revive also.”
Harriet Ann Jacobs, African American Abolitionist and Writer