Into the Light

It seems sudden, this turning

of springtime.

I know that since December 21, the day length has been slowly increasing. But somehow it felt like spring and longer days were just beyond our reach. Then suddenly, when we switched to daylight savings time this week and the temperatures began to warm, the days feel so expansively brighter and longer.

This morning I thought about how I was basking in the warmer days and longer daylight. And then I thought about all of the people living in the Ukraine and wondered if they could feel any rays of light in the midst of the terrible devastation and attacks. As heavy as it feels watching from a distance, I cannot imagine how it must feel to be there, feeling the shelling, fearing for your life and your loved ones, experiencing the destruction of your home and city.

Reason for hope?

Still watching the response of people throughout our country and the world, I have a glimmer of hope. I’m not going to go into all of the reasons I have for feeling that little sliver of hope.

“A lot of experiences that we have in the world are torn, broken, hard experiences, and in broken, difficult, lonesome experiences you earn a quality of light that is very precious. I often think of it as quarried light.”
― John O’Donohue, Walking in Wonder: Eternal Wisdom for a Modern World

But I do want to remind you that even in the heaviness of war and pandemic, that the light still returns. Spring still arrives in it’s own perfect timing.

I hope that you feel the wonder of moving into the light of springtime and that you notice small ordinary miracles today and always.

May you walk in beauty.

Note: photos from my visit to Minnesota Landscape Arboretum earlier this week.