Starkness of winter

There is a beauty in the starkness of winter. The twisting trunks of the rowan outside the window are more visible now without their robe of leaves. The dawn light illuminates those brown trunks and branches, picking out the knots and prunes and breaks. It is the light side of the trunks that I am noticing this morning, but there are mornings when all I can see is the dark side of the trunks. I can become stuck, staring at the shadows rather than moving to another spot and gaining a new perspective.  It’s the same wood, the same tree, the same trunks, but perspective is everything.

There are times, there are circumstances, which can catch us in a mire where we can only see the shadows. We need God’s help to shift to another spot, to gain a new perspective. As the truth of the real meaning of Christmas dawns on us, may we all be enabled to see the wood in our lives with the Light shining on it. The hope of the world.