..to wait..

Day 4

The truth is that it's hard to get motivated to walk in a park during the crisp winter. These days I've gone walking I felt the cold air slap me in the face. I felt the cold to the bone! Although it’s been sunny, sunshine has offered no heat. And even the air felt dry sense due to the bitterness of the cold.

As I crossed marker 0.4 I observed that most of the trees look lifeless during winter. Then I stopped to ponder how do trees survive in the winter.

My conclusion was that trees are exposed to the same weather all year round. Regardless of the season, trees are exposed to precipitation as well as the rising and setting of the sun; this never changes. However, during the winter, precipitation, temperature, and sunlight approach extreme limits.

Now, consider that trees do not generate heat on their own nor do they have the option to migrate. So how can trees survive during the winter?

Although a tree may seem to be lifeless during the winter, it is not dead. It simply preserves itself and resists the climate. Several internal cellular processes allow a tree to preserve life. Yet none of this is visible to the naked eye. We can just accept that something happens internally. I think this internal preservation reflects a silent wait.

I think trees bear the winter waiting for spring. Waiting for leaves to grow once again. They hope to bear fruit yet again. They wait to redisplay their natural beauty. They await the change of season.

Then I remembered that biblically speaking, we are compared to trees. Which led me to think that similarly to the trees, our lives are marked by seasons and changes.

Then I understood that we endure winter while we wait for spring. I don’t know what spring represents in your life. But I venture to say that winter represents a time of waiting. It is the longing of something to come.

Somehow we all know what it is to wait. Whether we’ve waited in line to pay for something, or we have waited in the middle of traffic, or waited for medical results/diagnosis, or look forward to a promotion at work, or we hope to find a partner.... At some point we experience (or will experience) waiting.

But, are we willing to endure a harsh winter in order to enjoy the springtime? Are we willing to preserve our internal well-being while we wait?