The red balls and magical lights are packed away. Music listened to last fall plays through the speakers again but sounds tinny after the carols sung last week. In the corner where the Christmas tree stood, now hovers a photo-shot memory.
Our beloved people, lounging on couches or crouched over screens, read, work and rest in another house. No more loud laughing or rough housing, no opening and closing the refrigerator, corn hole tossing in the backyard, laundry churning. Even the trees have lost their adorning color. Everything inside and out sighs *blah.”
Did the sun rise this morning? Will your stomach growl in a few hours? Will Christmas’ arrival surprise you again this year? Yes, yes and probably.
2017 is locked into history, but new life grows beneath the soil. 2018 stretches and has barely opened its eyes. Silence and monotone hues provide a landscape of fewer distractions and more clarity. The silence marks peace not emptiness. January gives us the opportunity to take a deep breath. Sit down. Be still. Listen. Observe.
Do you hear the crow or the mockingbird? Can you hear the trucks and cars carrying their passengers to destinations, activities, appointments? Does the clock tick its message of passing time? All is not dead but alive and moving.
The moon shifts around on schedule, the seasons seep from one to the next, the world circles on mostly predictable patterns of changes. Today, this week, this year is only beginning to bud. Take God’s hand and pick up your foot, but keep watching expectantly. So much adventure and promise awaits debut.
Lamentations 3:22-24
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.”
English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.