In the bleak midwinter
Frosty wind made moan
Earth stood hard as iron
Water like a stone
Snow had fallen snow on snow…
It was gray, cold, foggy and the ground was snow covered. Yuck! As me and worst-best were walking along, I was thinking about how winter it seemed, almost bleak. So quiet. Creepy still. Of course, that’s normal. It is winter. While bemoaning how winterish it was, out of the blue – Tweet! I don’t know what kind of bird it was, I don’t know my birds, remember the Great Snowy Owl? Anyway, it was not some gentle, slow awakening tweet, but a loud, robust, confident tweet. Like, TWEET! Hey! You know the kind in the early morning, the only day you can sleep in, right outside your window. I wondered if he knew it was winter. It was such a contradiction. Winter, cold, dead, heavy, hard, sunshine hopeless. Tweet, bright, light, airy, alive, hopeful.
This little bird, in the midst of the gray, was a sign of awakening life, even in the dead of winter. Quite a contrast. Dreary versus chirpy. Desolate versus hope. Despair versus joy. In the barrenness of the day, a joyful song. We live in two parallel worlds – one full of despair and one filled with hope. Sometimes we unfortunately find ourselves with a foot in both. One in the mud and one on dry land. That can make us a little lopsided. Makes us feel a little off kilter. Makes our spirit uneasy.
Still winter, in the evening hours, darkish, I was doing what I do with the one I do it with. She pranced along as evening turned into night. It was life quiet. It happened again. Out of the blue. Peep. A hearty PEEP! I was like, “What, it can’t be!?!” Of course, I don’t know my frogs, but I tell you what, I know a Spring Peeper when I hear one. PEEP! In an instant the dark faded to light. Dusk to dawn. Gloom to cheer.
A spring peeper in the midst of the dark winter evening is a sign of awakening life. Do you see the disparity here? In the dark season, the new season yawns. Spring peepers are called spring peepers for a reason. The peep is a signal. Peepers usher in, with their ever expanding chorus, spring. It’s awakening life.
The bird and the spring peeper are rousings of rebirth. The rebirth of a season. In our area this rebirth happens four times a year. This winter, in the gray and the darkness, I was privy to the dawn of spring. Oh, it’s not a privilege only for me, awakening life is for all to see.
Awakening life. Awaken from your slumber. From your hibernation. From the death of winter to the life of spring. Sometimes the gray and dark are all we can see. But that’s not all we are meant to see. We are meant to see the new life. We can be awakened in the complete stillness of winter. Sometimes it just has to be that quiet to hear the tweet and the peep.
“Quiet down!” Suddenly the wind stopped, and there was a great calm…
And they were filled with awe
Mark 4:39
In the darkness of that night, in the quieting, something happened. Jesus revealed. The Disciples awakened.
Be silent, and know that I am God!
I will be honored by every nation.
I will be honored throughout the word!
Psalm 49:10
Be silent… Be still…Be awakened…
We have seen his majestic splendor with our own eyes…We ourselves heard the voice when we were there with him on the holy mountain.
2 Peter 1:16, 18
Seeing and hearing his majesty, Peter and his friends were awakened…
We can plow through life, through the gray, through the dark, sometimes without ever hearing the tweet or the peep. Sometimes without ever being awakened to life, without rebirth, without recognizing the nod from the bird and the frog, without ever hearing His voice. If only we can quiet our hearts to hear God’s revelation, we too can be awakened to a new season in life.