She stands tall in our front yard and clasps golden glory tight to her crown.
Though heavy-laden with a snow-cold blanket, still she refuses to resist the stripping.
I stroke my hand along her wrinkled hard, trace her scars with my finger, remove a limb of broken.
She knows she’ll lose, of course.
Because it’s the season of humility, the time for change.
She knows she must die to enter new life.
And to do battle is futile.
But it’s hard, so very hard.
So as the wind picks up, she releases her hold and weeps leafy.
I lie at her feet and remember the rustle of her green canopy.
But today, in the Y and the why of her letting go, I see the light.
And there’s beauty in her sacrifice.
What do you need to strip off today, so others can better see the light through you?
Still stripping,
Sandy
With Lisa-Jo and the Five Minute Friday community
with five minutes of brave
on the word prompt–tree.
Beautiful, Sandy. I love your words and they way you used them today to describe the process of stripping off the things that keep people from seeing who we really are. This was an interesting prompt today and it’ll be fun to read what others wrote.
Blessings to you in this season of change and loss.
Such beautiful words woven together. I love how you describe “her wrinkled hard” and the “season of humility.”
And the question….leaves me thinking.
Glad I stopped by from fmf!
Dear Sandy
If I want to be honest with you, I have to admit that I am just like your tree and you! I think most of us are afraid of the stripping process and with good reason for life at the end of your tether doesn’t come naturally to a human soul. But once we truly, truly hear and understand that this is the way to the still waters of rest and the peace of our Lord, we are ready to sail the open seas with only the Holy Spirit to be the wind in our sails.
Blessings XX
Mia
So beautifully said, Sandy! My need is often to strip away selfishness so that I can better see needs in lives around me. It’s too easy to get caught up in one’s own changing of the seasons and forget to look out for others.
Such beautiful and poetic prose! You have captured the essence of what we need to do — strip away — the dead, the not so pretty part of our lives, to prepare for that transition into newness come spring. Open up to humility!