The Dance of Life

"I went down to the orchard of nut trees
To see the blossoms of the valley,
To see whether the vine had budded
Or the pomegranates had bloomed." Song of Songs 6.11

The heart is abloom.

Recently my daughter ran into the house estatic about having found life. With the unusually warm weather of January a dandelion had begun to press up from beneath. With bright eyes and hair aflying, she danced the dance of life around it as if to urge it on. Yet there was steel in her. The younger brother stalked with delight. He was consumed at the thought of smothering the life out of the lone dandelion daring to bloom in January. His mission was to stamp out its life.

As I look out the window now snow covers the ground and once again the frigid winds of winter have returned. It is the pause in life. A pause that can not last forever. The heart is abloom. Though even that remains unseen, hidden beneath the folds of the valley.

Thank God there is life in the desert. One just has to know where to look for it. For does not the land covet life? It harbors its residents, nurturing them for every season that will come. And the desert traveler is there amid life and death. While he can not create life, he learns to work with the land. He harbors and nurtures what it gives. The searcher of souls in the folds of the valley for the heart that is abloom. That he might do the dance of life. Sola Gracia, WHB