I observe the morning breeze stir the cherry blossoms and scatter them to the ground. It’s a beautiful shower of white and pink. I know what it means: the fleeting blooms fall. We’ve lost them, but I note the beauty in even the manner of their falling–like dancers lilting and twirling. Now, the greenery will fill the tree, and robins or sparrows will come nest here. It’s a good thing lost for greater things coming: bright eggs and new life flying.
Then, I package up all the toys of childhood to make room for new designs in a grown-up loft den. I remember the days of Polly Pocket and American Girl, and I tuck them in their places, taped up and boxed away with a sign that says, “Grandma’s Toys” for when and if my daughters bring home children to me. My youngest turns 13, and I think of losing good things of childhood to make way for the greater thing coming.
Finally, my neighbor tells me what God taught her while gardening this morning. While pulling up the hairy vetch, she saw those terrible roots taking over even the good things in her garden. As the roots wrapped around both good and bad, she removed both to make room for new varieties of plants. She said, “Sometimes, in removing the bad things from our lives, some good gets ripped up, too. Sometimes the bad is too wrapped around the good, and both must go. That’s OK.” I remember that to get a great thing, we must often lose a great thing.
The theme of the day: losing good things to make room for greater things.