Hope Springs Eternal

 

White Trillium-a harbinger of spring

As I write these words, it is the very last few days of March and there is a steady snowfall outside my window.  So typical of March to have 70 degrees and sunshine on one day, then snow and wind the next.  Nevertheless, at this juncture it can be frustrating.  Just about everyone I know is so ready for Spring. It is the same back and forth pretty much every year, yet sometimes we never get used to that. We have to have HOPE that Spring will eventually come. I took this photo several years ago on a springtime walk in the woods. The White Trillium is a woodland flower that comes up in April and May.  It is such a delicate, beautiful flower and signifies to me the coming of spring as it bursts forth above the fallen leaves of the previous autumn. Not only is it a pleasure to behold, I found out that in some cultures and philosophies, the 3-petal structure represents balance of the past, present and future and also the connection between mind body and spirit.  Such an impressive connection for something so wonderfully simple.  Sometimes simplicity is the best.

So as we wait, impatiently, for the White Trillium to appear and the moment when we can safely put away the snow shovels away, I am reminded of a mindset that helps me carry forward.  The concept of Hope and how there are certain tools we can use to foster that hope.  One of these tools is one of my favorite Bible verses: Hebrews 11:1 which states:

Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

The spiritual aspect of this verse has always brought me comfort, but on the more pragmatic level, the green grass, flowers breaching the surface and the warmer temperatures are yet to be seen and felt...but we have faith and hope that those days will arrive.  Of this, I am sure.  Every March I go through this.  I am wanting to visit nurseries and start to plant flowers and plan my vegetable garden.  Yet I have to reign myself in and practice both patience and hope.  

There is also more to utilizing the art of practicing patience and hope than just horticulture and the changes of the seasons.  I get frustrated and borderline depressed when I think of the current "State of Affairs" of our country and all the changes that are taking place under the Trump administration.  I really want, and need, to think positively about the future of this country and the future of the world. 

 So many things these last few months have shocked, angered and dismayed me that I don't know where to turn for solace.  I find solace in HOPE.  I look for ties from the past that at the time seemed monumental but eventually had a way of working out. I do what I can to help make my community and world a better place. Yet, I also have to protect my own mental health and well-being. Yet even the simple concept of hope is such an important tool in making things better: "If there is hope in the future, there is literally power in the present." Zig Ziglar

That being said, I can keep putting one foot in front of the other and keep moving forward based on the premise of HOPE.    Julie Etta Smith