Trees are slowly becoming divested of their covering. Layers are being removed by the elements. It’s a stripping off, losing a covering of leaves, a paring back to skeletal form, especially as wintry winds take hold.
There’s a strange kind of bare-bones beauty in the removal of a tree’s raiment, decorative as it is. Twisted branches speak of weight-bearing under strain, with an arthritic suggestion extending to the depleted spindliness of twigs, one I can relate to in my own weakened frame, with joints distorted by arthritis.
Life itself has a way of paring us back, and we notice it in particular when our bodies grow slack and bones protrude with lengthening years. It’s as if we are being issued with a salutary reminder that life consists of so much more than the physical. Which it does, of course.
Then I think of how stiff and resistant our souls can become, needing the wild winds of Holy Spirit to blow upon them like a wake up call. Extraneous leaves that have littered our thinking are denuded. We are brought back to simple necessities.
We learn how it is always better for us to remain pliant and flexible in spirit, able to surrender, bend and stretch to life’s challenges, aided by God’s grace. His Holy tune is the one that plays on human hearts. We are encouraged to listen to what it is saying and to yield to the wind of heavenly Love as it shapes us from season to season.
denudement
arthritic branches
bend and stretch to wind’s wild tune
denuding their leaves
©joylenton
Poetry Joy 
Dear Joy,
What a beautiful thought, and different way to view the winds of this life: “His Holy tune is the one that plays on human hearts.” Those winds have a tune when we will listen to what HE is singing. In these days of stripping back to the “bare-bones beauty” I pray that I will begin to hear His melody playing over me. Thank you for these precious thoughts today! Hugs & Love to you! xoxo
Dear Bettie, I think you already hear God’s Holy tune melody being played. It’s apparent when He rejoices over you with singing, delighting in His brave, beautiful daughter as she responds to the call to share her heart thoughts on a blog, touching the lives of others with the fruit of her obedience. And when you choose to continue to faithfully trust in His overseeing love and care, staying hopeful while you live with chronic illness, pain and fatigue. in fact, it’s likely to be a continual melody for all of us, the very fabric of our lives linked to God’s Love, though we need to develop sensitivity to Holy Spirit’s voice to hear it best. Hugs and love to you too! xoxo 💜
I had to look up the word “denude”
When I encountered it, I just had to try to write a poem that included it somehow. I’m a bit of a magpie when it comes to collecting new-to-me words, though I do so far less than I used to, and forget them easily nowadays! When I was at school they used to call me a “walking dictionary”, due to my great interest in words and desire to add to my vocabulary. I hope I have inspired you to use “denude” too! xo 😊💜