Roses in Winter

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February 22, 2021 2 min read

Listen to the parable of the rose...

Roses, full of blooms and powered by great energy shooting to new foliage and overcoming buds, at this season begin to grow heavy with the burden of their abundance.

The energies required for such a blooming begins to weaken the stems and then the roots...and by degrees, the blooms droop and the buds choke, and the invisible soul of the rose wearies and depletes.

A sensitive gardener will come, now, urgently, in this crisis and lovingly do to the roses what others will gasp to witness: the harshest pruning, desperately required for the very survival of the bush. It is a matter of life or death. He will rescue the dying roses.

Pruning back the roses will clip blooms, will snip buds, will pare back foliage, and will cut so far down the stems that they barely protrude from the base. A less gracious gardener may even hack with a saw right down to the very core of the plant. And after? After is utter devastation. Roses so regal, elegant and dominant among peers, strewn about in dead heaps. Once glorious gardens now row upon row of sticks and thorns.

Yet.

Come springtime, the roses begin little by little to sprout new shoots, then buds, then foliage...and before long, abundant, powerful blooms of roses emerge more radiant, full, and royal than their former selves, growing taller above all the rest. Roses will bloom again.

Do you feel weary and depleted?

Right now, if you can't imagine taking on another act of burden, perhaps consider becoming the rose, and let go.

Let go...of whatever you are clutching to.

A lie about your identity.
An object that steals peace.
A toxic relationship.
A gossiping lip.
A jealous spirit. A selfish trait.
A broken heart.
A noisy life or an overdosed schedule.
Or even an apparent "good" that is no longer good...or just not for right now. No more gasping for breath. No more hiding. No more numbing.

LET GO.

Let go the clutching hand.

What things in your life have become heavy blooms and extra foliage sucking your energy and it's time to let them be pruned back, perhaps waaay to the core of your very being, and shed it all, embracing the Lent edit, lest your core roots wither and die? Gather instruments of silence, rest, presence...and just...be.

But, lo: look, upon the horizon comes springtime and your new blooming. You will bloom again, more radiant, fuller, and more royal than before. New blooms, new life, new you. In this season, if you let go, you too will bloom again.

LET GO.

LET GO and welcome newness. Welcome a new heart and new royalty.