Some of us find that February and March to be long months. There is still too much cold and wind, still too much darkness, and not enough spring beauty. There are those who refer to these as nesting months: spending time inside the walls of home, school, and work and hopefully inside the walls of our hearts.
I would like us to begin some late winter and early spring spiritual cleaning as we navigate these uncertain days of wind chill, wintry mixes, and unseasonable warmth.
Here are some considerations:
1. Uncertainty and doubt are not necessarily spiritual weaknesses but often spiritual invitations to a deeper faith. Live the questions, doubts, and uncertainties.
2. In dark moments, we do not always receive neon clarity, but frequently we get just the light needed for the next step or two.
3. Barren trees are beautiful. When I run through Wildwood Park these days, I can see the raw beauty of nature and its expanse. There is little to block the wider view. Spring brings an abundance of green, flowering colors and beauty but also with limited and a more focused range of vision.
4. Nesting is a gift. Wintry mixes and snowfalls take us out of our comfort zone and routine to show us that we are not ultimately in charge. Do not panic but enjoy the unexpected gift of a day off or a two-hour delay. How many rolls of toilet paper or gallons of milk do we really need to make it through that unplanned for day?
5. Wind is my winter adversary. Cold does not stop me, but a certain wind speed will deflate my courageous spirit to go out and run. I am not proud to say that it can win too easily. What are our adversaries that deflate the wind of our spiritual sails?
6. The fluctuating temperatures of this season can remind us of the changes of our hearts. Warm, tender, loving, giving, but also, cold, calculating, unforgiving are all possible moments that beat from this life-giving organ. What life do we want to pulsate from within us?
7. In the Scriptures, seven is the whole number. This season is only part of the fabric of the changes that take place each year. Hopefully, these changes ask us to look at each day and each season to remind us of the importance of living each day and moment wholly and with all the love and devotion we can bring forth from our loving hearts.
Live Jesus!
Fr. Matt Hillyard, OSFS
DeSales Weekly: https://oblates.squarespace.com/desales-weekly
DeSales Weekly Editor:: Rev. John (Jack) Kolodziej, OSFS
