A year draws to a close. An ending is in sight. These are days of increasing darkness in every way. No wonder Advent makes us long for the coming of the Light of Life Himself to signal a new beginning for all of us.
Creation itself mirrors our hope. We see death all around us as trees give up their leaves and plants die to make room for the green shoots of spring. Because renewal is built into their very DNA, just like it is in us as we surrender our darkness to God and watch how He brings His light and life to bear on what seems dead.
Although our bodies may wither and lose vigour as we age, and our health fail to the point of decay and eventual death, we always have an eternal, resurrection Hope of newness of Life with God.
We, and our loved ones will live again, my friend. We have a Hope that is steadfast and certain. We are destined for more than dust and ashes. We are destined to receive beauty for ashes.
“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the suffering and afflicted. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted, to announce liberty to captives, and to open the eyes of the blind. He has sent me to tell those who mourn that the time of God’s favor to them has come, and the day of his wrath to their enemies.To all who mourn in Israel he will give: beauty for ashes; joy instead of mourning; praise instead of heaviness. For God has planted them like strong and graceful oaks for his own glory.” ~ Isaiah 61:1-3 TLB
We are God’s Beloved children. He is with us from start to finish here on earth and eternally in heaven, overseeing our lives with loving care and attention, bringing new life from sorrow and death.
Death and life
I’m a tinder-dry autumn leaf
fallen to the ground
where oblivious feet crush me
dead with a satisfying
crisp-crunch sound
My life was brief but beautiful
in its dying glory flame
and I can still remember how
I would bend and sway
as the wind sang over me
with its sighed lullaby and
stole my breath away
on blustery nights and days
Now, while I lie as dusty ash
victim to every breeze
I yearn to return to my home
branching on the tree
Then an image comes to me
of sap rising high in spring
producing buds fresh and green
filled with new life and hope, new birth
I know I will grow and bloom again
to reveal God’s splendour
here on the earth
©joylenton