Salvation in the Details

Spring is sooner recognized by plants than by men
(Chinese Proverb)

It can be rough, this Springing of the world, as rough as childbirth, with its groaning and pains, pushing and thrusting, and difficult to look beyond what we think we feel and see at any given moment. It would be all to easy to think Spring had forsaken us this year, in this long and dreary April, which all too often has worn the guise of March. Long gray days strung together do little to lift the spirits. But, as I've often said, God is in the details and it takes a sharp eye and a willing heart to truly see.

I did not want to walk today. The afternoon did exactly as I predicted by churning up winds and snow at the precise moment I leashed up Duncan and pulled my scarf tight around my neck. Duncan, who'd laid on the bed staring out the window all afternoon, was not as reluctant as I so he did what any good dog does on a walk, which is pull and drag in all the right spots, pause and sniff at appropriate places and wait and wait and wait for me to make a discovery that I should have seen but missed because of laziness and unwillingness. April has been lost on me, behind the clouds and the snow bursts which cover the yards and cars, then melt only to burst upon us again, over and over, days without sunshine or color.But there before me were all the details of the world, the delicate, struggling things which persevere and push through the lingering winter. While Duncan rolls on the ground in the last of the once-leaves, the fuzzy tails of the Aspens in bloom dance across my vision, tickling my cheek before I notice them. Other trees whose names I don't know are covered in blossoms of fine red hair that catches the snow, pulling it like an anemone grasping for food in the dark, wet places of the world. The junipers are exploding with berries and soon the ground beneath them will be littered with thousands of bright blue balls. When I was young we gathered them, clutching them until they burst and smeared thick purple skins and green pulp between our fingers. We played war with the remnants in the ravine behind my home, using wide drinking straws to blow them at each other, sending them flying through the air like bombs.

There is so much of Spring all around us, minute and easily overlooked. But on days that aren't quite what we yearn for or feel we deserve it's especially important to open our eyes and seek out these tiny blessings. They are the things that make the walks worthwhile. They are the salvation of our spirit in these bland and cold days.