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Frost in San Antonio
We had frost in San Antonio this year. I know: this is hardly a news flash for those of you up north, shoveling and sliding your way through winter. Still, for us in South Texas, repeated, killing frosts are remarkable.
Landscape plants that usually survive winter here unscathed have been badly damaged, despite Jan's best efforts to protect them. I spent part of this morning cutting away brown, rotting stems, nearly down to the ground, from split-leaf ferns that once stood chest-high.
I had to be careful, though. From around and within the dark decay, green shoots are emerging. New leaves, new growth - new life - comes forth from the place of death.
 Two lessons here:
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Cold death does not have the final word. The One who called all life into being calls still. The very cells and molecules answer that call.
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In all of life, as in gardening, pruning is essential. What has died must be trimmed away to make room for new growth.
Shortly before he died, John O'Donohue published a marvelous book, To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Blessings. O'Donohue turned his poetic gifts to the writing of blessings for dozens of life situations. There are blessings for "Beginnings" and for "Desires," for "Homecomings," "States of Heart," and for "Callings." The final section of the book is called "Beyond Endings."
No matter how cold the frost, no matter how dark the decay, there are, by God's grace, blessings beyond endings. I saw their green shoots this morning.
--Bill |
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Don't Rush - by Jan
I tell him - Bill - be ver-r-ry careful, don't rush to do Spring gardening; winter might trick you and make another sneak attack. I don't need to teach him how to "do" winters in South Texas but "cold" in San Antonio is a new concept. After living most of his life in Oregon, New England, and the East Coast, he told me he moved to San Antonio 5 years ago to marry me but now I think it was because he'd thrown away his snow shovel - on purpose. Here winter seems to come and go in a weekend and I warn him, there's likely to be a late freeze around Easter time.
Don't rush. The seasons have an appointed time. Seasons of life, of joy, of pain, of growth, of stuck-ness, of blessing . . . . They all have their appointed time.
A brilliant Jungian psychoanalyst who worked with me during a cold and dark time - the winter of my life - advised me, "Jan, don't rush to forgiveness." She gave me a lot of time to feel the pain, name the anger, stay stuck in doubt and confusion, embrace the hope, work through the grief, and gradually heal from the inner core. She stayed with me through the process and we didn't rush. We knew when it was time. Then forgiveness was the final blessing.
Don't rush.
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