Pero tú, oh YHWH, eres escudo alrededor de mí; eres mi gloria y el que levanta mi cabeza. sa

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Perserverance in the Face of Adversity


Ferns, the native ones, found deep in the woods, on the bank of a stream or a creek, are quite lovely. They are delicate, but sturdy all at the same time. Warmer weather has definitely arrived when the fronds start to poke up through the soil.

Keith, the kids and I went for a hike to the House of Dreams the other weekend, for my birthday. Berry College had signs posted all around that they had done a controlled burn. Everything was charred and to be quite honest...really ugly. And the smell was for sure not that of a spring forest. While we were walking, though, a spot of green against the black stood out to me. It was a fern, untouched by the fire.

Of course that triggered a thought. The fern, perservered in the face of adversity; the fire. How often do I feel like life throws a flame or has an all out blow-torch session on me? Or is it simply that sometimes, maybe I'm in need of a controlled burn, to keep the forest healthy, and all the underbrush cleaned out? I think that like the fern, I am stronger and healthier mentally and spiritually, when I accept that a good burn, may be just the thing that I need to actually perservere.

Like the fern, I'm sure that life becomes more vibrant when it is every now and then placed against the backdrop of a charred black clean up.

2 comments:

Karen said...

Amen...loved this analogy! The blow-torch and the controlled burn...both necessary...both painful...but just like you wrote...life becomes more vibrant...and He just shines!

Unknown said...

What a powerful analogy! Thank you so much for sharing this insight!