The coldness of winter brings sadness and drear
Chilled by the bitter wind of the sun’s withdrawal
Makes everything somewhat of a burden
Trudging through the weather-beaten days
Only to find dark nights, sometimes alone
This annual occurrence does not come as a surprise
For it happens once with every revolution around our star
Yet somehow we feel it as an intrusion in our life
Something undesired and hopefully avoided
Until we are once again in its frigid grip
We rejoice at the first sign of springtime’s warming
Elated by the vision of budding plants and trees
The return of birdsongs in the air around us
Knowing we have made it though the death season
Returning to new life with an optimistic burning within
But what of this winter season in which we languish
Surely there must be a purpose for a full quarter of our time
Let us not waste this precious commodity of minutes and hours
Days and months must be spent with intention and purpose
Lest we waste this wonderland of death and dying
Instead of lament what if we rejoice in the waiting
Put aside the doom of lethargy expressed by so many
Find the motivation to embrace the learning opportunity
To see the vital part of life’s cycle and experience
Willfully pressing into these moments as precious
Many things in nature goes through a form of death
So that they can live more fully when made alive again
The caterpillar to butterfly, the planted seed, to name a few
So to, the human who finds a way to die to self
And allow God to become life among the waste
Without a death there is no rebirth to spur us on to growth
Without a yielding of our members to someone more able
We can never achieve the heights, depths, lengths, and breadths
To fulfill the purpose we have in this lifetime
And become the very essence of God
