SOULS SPRING FORTH LIKE FRAGRANT BLOSSOMS

Have you seen the color? The brilliance of God’s good earth is everywhere! His blessing of beauty is like a reward for the plain and dull winter we have just come through. Do you remember the first snow of the 2009 season? Wasn’t it wonderful and clean and bright? But, soon the white turned to dirty gray and the slush pilled up like rubble heaps in the corners of shopping malls, marring the reflecting pools near by. That is so much like many of our lives. The precious infant that began life with the promise of all that would be good and beautiful, as adults sometimes turns black and gets pushed to the margins of life, unloved and unwanted. While that is all true, the miracle of a reborn Spring is a yearly reminder that life can be brought back to a hopeful beginning again. No matter how dark the stain, how cold the heart, or how sluggish the mind, the soul can spring forth again to a new beginning, with a new meaning, and a fresh purpose - to love Him and to spread that love to all those around us. Let us pray

“Holy Father, God of all there is, we stand in awe at the beauty you share with us in the Springtime of our lives. Thank you that Spring can come at any age, under any circumstances, and regardless of any secret ice that has chilled our hearts. Your holiness can melt any cold shoulder and clean any blot on the beautiful garments of life you have given us. Like ladies of old, holding their heads high as their skirt tails drug through the filthy streets, the garments you give us come clean each new day when our head and heart remain above the slush and swill of the world. Dirty shoes only means we have labored in your streets. Filthy hearts mean that the streets have found their way inside our souls like a cold wind that snaps through the cracks around us. You, oh God, have blessed us with the beauty of Spring, a visible witness to your grace and forgiveness. Forgive us when we only see the dirty dark caves of life and not the diamonds that glitter in the walls. With gold comes the mining, with fragrant flowers comes the rain. Thank you Father for all your precious blossoms that bloom all around us, which we forget to take the time to see, and are not humble enough to bend low to touch the petals. Thank you for the Spring of our lives that comes after every bitter season. May we always look for the sweetness of each new day, which follows a time of night. We pray in the name of your precious son Jesus, who sprang up again like the lilies of the field from a night of death and a time of sorrow. To you of God be all glory and honor and praise. Amen”
Doris
Copyright 2010 Doris Gaines Rapp, Ph.D.
“God gives us stories that testify to His love. Let me tell you mine.”


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