May 1, 2015 – From Sr. Toby Lardie
After the thaw of winter, the ground softens, allowing the spring rains to loosen the hard packed earth. As a child I used to wonder what it was like for those seeds buried below the surface. After so many months of what seemed like nothing happening, could the seeds feel the changes around them and, more importantly, within them? I mean, did it hurt when the seed coating started to expand and crack open? Back in February were there rumors going around among the seed pods that things were going to change? That life as they knew it was going to be so radically different? That they needed to leave their comfortable existence, allow their shells to crack open and begin to sprout new shoots and reach up toward the light?
It seems like the kind of questions and worries that a child might carry. But then again, sometimes I approach change that way. Early rumors cause so many questions about why and how and when? Will it hurt? Do I have to let go of something? Change what I do? Leave this comfortable place?
Or then again, those seeds in that hard packed dirt might just start feeling the earth warming up. The rains come, loosening everything that had been held so tightly, allowing the seed to begin to sprout – a long, wonderful stretch toward the surface. Ooooo, that does feel so good….sort of like a long massage, loosening and stretching everything. Maybe it’s excitement now in the seed world. The message is passed on from place to place, “It’s time, get ready!” This is the time we’ve been waiting for. It’s our turn to move into the light. Just wait until you break the surface! You will be so amazed at the world you see – so many colors, so many designs and patterns! It is so amazing!
And so it happens every year in that seed world…..am I allowing it to happen within me? Something new is breaking open, pushing toward the light. Something is growing….is it scary? Or is it right on time? God is the Gardner, encouraging, massaging, softening, calling forth. May this glorious springtime that I see on the outside be a mirror of what is happening on the inside in my soul.
