Every gardener knows that under the cloak of winter lies a miracle:
a seed waiting to sprout, a bulb opening to the light, a bud straining to unfurl.
And the anticipation nurtures our dreams.
-Barbara Winkler-
After another snowfall, I took a walk by the Dolores River a block away from where we’re presently living. Alone in the silence of late afternoon, the sounds of running water came unannounced and stopped me in my tracks. I turned and found my way through the underbrush to the shore of the river where there was a significant stream of open water that soon disappeared under a mass of ice covering everything downstream. I came to rest against a small tree in awe of this living miracle opening itself to me to watch and listen to its wonder.
The cloak of winter was lifted in this moment allowing me to ponder the Autumn months that had left tiny remnants of dried seeds on their branches. To my surprise, a few new buds on other branches were already formed, waiting to sprout. It must be February, I thought, as I plucked off a dried seed that would never blossom becoming aware of the billions of new ones that would. The dream of what had been and what would be washed over me like the open water and the rest of the ice cover river: I was witnessing a living paradox of death and new life.
In that moment I remembered a blog I’d read by a young woman from New York City a few days before who had nothing good to say about February. She’d complained about the snow, the cold, the long dark dreary days, the inconvenience of this wretched month and how she wanted to erase it from the calendar. I sent her and all the others that felt this way an intuitive message about the moment I was having and how February was the miracle month of gestation that helps bring forth new life in all its forms.
I’m no longer a young person but I’m finding a youthful wonder that nurtures dreams. I’m discovering so many things that in my younger years seemed hidden because I was too busy and impatient to look for them. Today, I’m discovering that what appears to be cloaked is really what I’m not giving attention and awareness to. It’s not what’s out there or not out there that’s disturbing but rather what’s in here, in our minds that exclude stillness, openness, presence, and wonder. Discovering this paradox opens new worlds to be acknowledged and appreciated.
What if it‘s not what we look at that matters but what we see? What if seeing the miracles that lie under the cloak of February’s many changes opens the doors of perception that allow us to see with fresh new eyes? When we stop long enough and look with wonder and awareness, we’re given in-sight into the mysteries of Nature’s many wonders and into our own True Nature. This is part of the ever unfolding mystery that lives in us as we in It. This Ineffable Essence makes itself known within every season which is why we say: ‘Every season has Soul’.
Though February is short and seems too long for some; it’s filled with love and sweet surprises. It beckons us to rest awhile longer before the energies of Spring overwhelm us with new life bursting forth everywhere. Love is in the air even in this short month, but you have to slow down to experience it. You have to savor the subtleties like a vintage wine and give thanks for the freezing and thawing that sing Nature’s songs and enliven creation. The uncertainty of each February day is the gift of a shy lover who calls us to new life in subtle ways.
Awaken to the February contrasts and feel the anticipation of new life that’s in the process of birthing everywhere, even in you. Notice it in your frowns and smiles, your joys and sorrows.
Give thanks for every moment as you become aware of the Life that’s coming and going with every inhale and exhale, every thawing and freezing, every moment in every season.
In this February anticipation of newness; what dreams are you nurturing?
Looking beyond the mysteries,
Fr. Rick Meyers+