| I wrote this devotional in 2015 — one of forty commemorating the 40th anniversary of the founding of Higher Ground Christian Retreat Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway north of Mount Aire, NC. As I wrote the devotionals, the themes seemed to come in alphabetical order, so that is why all the “R” words are in bold. I think of the scripture that says “Cast your bread upon the water and it will return to you one day.” Today, this “bread” has returned to me: to comfort and encourage me. The photo is from this morning, though it could have been from 2015; because that is what “perennial” means. Like the sun rising, the tides turning, the seasons cycling — without fanfare or effort on my part — these beautiful friends appear every year in the coldest of winter; and I am so grateful for them and the lessons they teach me. “Lessons from the Lenten Rose: “I am a lenten rose. I am a favorite perennial because I have large, strong 5-pointed leaves that last all year, even through the coldest of winters. Yes, I persevere when all the others have faded and gone dormant, showing my lovely green strength against the brown of the fading fall and promising spring amidst the white of winter snow. “Yesterday Marilyn came to the garden and saw how weary I was. My leaves had started to turn brown and were hiding the beautiful flowers emerging beneath. Acknowledging that their presence had protected these young flowers throughout the mid-winter storms, she told me that it was time for the leaves to be cut off. She helped me recognize that now they were hiding the beauty of the flowers and sapping their strength. Not wanting this, I was able to hear and accept: ‘It is time for your leaves to rest from the God-given task that they have fulfilled so faithfully, to relinquish their hold and be released—pruned away—to merge with the soil of the garden bed, and allow the NEW LIFE to come forth.” As the gardener pruned them away, I felt cleansed and renewed; and the beauty of the “new thing” that God wanted to do in me was no longer hidden and drained by holding onto what God had done in me last year. I could rejoice in the new life into which He was bringing me.’ “Yesterday I was helped by applying what the lenten rose has taught me. My Tuesday morning prayer group went by caravan to Charlottesville to pray with our friend Anne who is now in the Hospice House. What a comfort to see her there where so many have been loved and cared for as they pass through this time of relinquishment of earthly things and ministries: release from the responsibilities and burdens—into the deeper reality of our place of eternal rest in Him. We raised our voices in songs of rejoicing in Him for her life on earth, her resurrected life to come, and our friendship and partnership with her in prayer.” “Revelation Song” https://youtu.be/u0-nHeP2cT0 “Rest” (S.A. International Songsters) https://youtu.be/1-W3B3OUkN0 “Go Rest High Upon That Mountain” (Vince Gill) https://youtu.be/l11oCvBxnQ0 |
Ric and Marilyn's First Light 