↑Poem: Lanterns and Life
A friend wrote the following poem, and it touched both Vivian and myself so we decided to post it here. It reminded me of a piece I wrote a long time ago, which you can also read (click here).
Lanterns and Life, in the Spring and Beyond
By Joanna W, February 26, 2014
- Red Chinese New Year lanterns sway in the wind on naked trees. Once covered in leaves and blossoms,
- the branches are now decorated by mortal man to symbolize prosperity, blessing, and wealth.
- Seasons change, leaves and blossoms come and go in due time, just as the Father planned it.
- For while blossoms wilt and die, and leaves turn brown and fall off, the soil is rich and the roots
- pour nutrients to live by into the dry, dismal looking soil.
- Leaves on our most prized plants turn yellow, then brown and we watch on with dismay, feeling hopelessly helpless,
- yet, has He not promised life?
- Our fears and dismay at the sight of sickness and death blind us
- from the promise of a better time.
- For isn’t it only natural?
- While, to the naked eye, it looks like the tree has given up life itself,
- it’s really just biding its time.
- Forsaking daily extravagance, it stockpiles resources so that, at the appropriate time, it might burst forth with life and blossom–
- shouting messages of life and hope.
- Where is our decoration then?
- The once ornate lanterns look like a gaudy reminder that man’s way pales in comparison
- to the brilliance of an eternal spring to come.
- Winds may come and blow the lanterns about, but the tree is not uprooted.
- Rains come down and leave a pathetic trail of red dye and soggy paper,
- melted over silk tassel, but still, the tree remains.
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Are not we, the church, the tree?
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