Painting by Belynda Wilson Thomas
The beautiful spring came, and when nature resumes her loveliness, the human soul is apt to revive also. Harriet Ann Jacobs
On the weekend it felt like spring but it’s winter out there again, a blanket of snow covers everything. But, spring is coming and a pot of crocus, tulip and hyacinth bulbs are beginning to bloom in the kitchen. At the Horticultural Society before Christmas we potted up bulbs, I placed mine in our cold cellar and brought them up about a week ago and they are already starting to bloom.
Watching things grow is one of life’s delights, and it won’t be long before we can get into our gardens. Looking out at our garden some of the spring bulbs are already poking their heads out in sunny places.
When we live with the seasons we live with a rhythm and if we are out of step with the seasons life is harder for us than it needs to be. Everything in life has its season, and discourse between people seems to be in a winter of discontent right now. Perhaps it is necessary for polarizing views to polarize before we can find a way to process them and move in a positive direction.
Do we make life hard for ourselves when we worry about things that aren’t ours to worry about? Some things are in our control but most things are not. If we focus on what is ours to control and let other people focus on what is theirs to deal with, does this give us a better life?
Where does our business end and someone else’s begin? When should we keep our thoughts to ourselves about other people’s ideologies, practices, and habits? It might be challenging in families when we don’t see things the same. We might not have grown up in the same culture, the same religion, or the same expectations. We don’t always see dealing with authorities in the same way. Our expectations in life might be different because we are different people and we can’t expect everyone to see things our way.
If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant. Anne Bradstreet
The easiest thing in the world is to mind someone else’s business instead of our own. We can see the changes that should be made in their lives even when we don’t see the changes we should be making in our own. The only person we can change is ourselves even if we think we aren’t the one that needs to change.
We think if they only saw things how we see things, the right way, and this is one of the things that cause the most disagreements.
Who wants to be reminded every day about how they see things wrong? We might not even think this is what we are doing, we are only discussing our view, but it comes off as disrespectful and judgmental. We didn’t mean to hurt someone we love with our words but there we go, doing it again. We might think what, we never get to have an opinion, but what if we should think a little longer before we speak and consider how what we say might be taken?
Everything is so polarizing right now, where is the middle ground? We aren’t even having the same discussions sometimes, we didn’t say what someone thinks we said, and we didn’t mean what they think we meant. It is as if we are living in the Tower of Babel times, where we really aren’t speaking the same language. How do we find the middle ground so we can talk about difficult issues that need to be discussed, and fix difficult issues that need to be fixed?
As winter leaves and spring arrives, can we find hope, renewal, and respect in our discourse with other people? Can we somehow find a wider view that includes everyone, find a way to work together, and not think the worst of everyone else’s intentions, and only the best of our own?
Spring is the time of plans and projects. Leo Tolstoy
The world’s favorite season is the spring. All things seem possible in May. Edwin Way Teale
When spring came, even the false spring, there were no problems except where to be happiest. Ernest Hemingway
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