For As Many Days As We Have Suffered

I notice the strangest thing: the old, gnarled trunk of the Weeping Cherry--the same angry trunk that looks haunted and dead--has blossomed into the most beautiful blooms.

It's true: the worst of the tree displays a shawl of white and pink blossoms against the freshest, newest green growth.

This observation comes after I see the neglected and certainly dead raspberry canes that nevertheless change before my eyes. Life swallows death. The fresh, new thing invades.

You can't stop it.

My soul whispers out the truth: God resurrects every dead thing in us. He brings new, fresh life wherever we allow Him entrance. Inviting the invading presence of the Holy Spirit means all the old, gnarled things transform.

I also remember Psalm 90: 14-17

Relent, O Lord! How long will it be?
Have compassion on your servants.
Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love
that we may be glad all our days.
Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
May your deeds be shown to your servants,
your splendor to their children.
May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us;
establish the work of our hands for us--
yes, establish the work of our hands.

Some translations say, "Make us glad for as many days as we have suffered." I think of that request, and I see suffering swallowed up in new, fresh things. I see life that comes in impossible places where no new thing should be.