The February sunshine steeps your boughs
and tints the buds and swells the leaves within.
~William Cullen Bryant

Aided by an usually warmer January, February’s sunshine has not only done what Bryant described within; it has also pushed many of the “tinted buds” and swollen leaves “without.”  Such can be seen in the flowering things that have popped up and out during this, February’s first week.  For example there are buds and blooms all over both the scarlet and white flowering quince along with a smattering of blossoming daffodils.  There are even more of the “daffadowndillies” visibly ready to burst forth from their papery sheaths.  Most of the roses I’ve seen are leafing out, my hyacinth buds are pushing up and in some cases showing color, and a few saucer magnolias in the park are beginning to flower.  Earth’s resting cycle may not yet have reached its appointed end on the calendar, but its life blood is quickening at least in our corner of the world.  Ready or not, winter’s quiet stillness is having to give way to ordained and purposeful busyness as forces, irrepressible and strong, ignite the birthing of spring’s earliest progeny.  Our typical last average freeze date here is March the 15th so certainly things could change, but barring a late freeze spring’s voice will continue to build across the landscape.  Sooner than usual the music will reach the deafening and glorious crescendos of her billion-year-old arias, and as the sun continues to strengthen, spring’s melodies and longer hours of light will infuse our bodies and spirits with their much needed vigor, vitality, and hopefulness.

Keep your faith in beautiful things;
in the sun when it is hidden,
and in Spring when it is gone.
~Roy R. Gibson

One of the things that increases my faith in the unseen is the endless disappearance and reappearance of nature’s seasons. The English writer, W. E. Johns, said, “One of the most delightful things about a garden is the anticipation it provides,” and so it is that the prospect of the season’s unfailing recurrences and that of my encounters with the Creator’s holy presence keep my faith strong.  The dictionary defines the word  “anticipation” as expectation or hope.  Expecting a thing means knowing it will inevitably come, and therein lies the key to faith. When the heartbeat of Creation’s life is sought and becomes as familiar as the beat of the heart within a person’s body, faith in the unseen is not only strengthened but also emboldened.  May your spirits be bolstered and uplifted by the “softening graces” of spring’s apparent little beginnings whenever it appears in your corner of the world.

Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen.  By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen has been made from things that are not visible.  ~Hebrews 11:1,3

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.   ~2 Corinthians 4:16-18