January is fading at last, this long cold winter that confronts us after the joy of Christmas, a hurdle to be conquered. Tomorrow we will delight in a new calendar page, February, bringing us a bit closer to warmth and light, daffodils and daisies. Watching the winter birds flitting at my window reminds me of the poem my teacher/preacher husband wrote some years ago:
The birds return with every spring to sing their songs anew,
As though cold winter’s deadly sting could ne’er its wrath renew.
Their song so sweet, with trembling feet on swaying choirs they sing,
And cry the hope now incomplete some rising sun will bring.
When flowers’ bloom shall never fade nor leaves from branches fall;
When sweet bouquets of thistles made adorn the banquet hall
Where sons of men shall sing again sweet Eden’s liturgy,
And join the birds in concert then, from curse forever free.
“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Rev. 21:1-4)
Even so, Come quickly Lord Jesus!