“From the fig tree, understand this illustration: when a branch grows tender and begins to sprout leaves, you know the summer is near” (Mark 13.28).
There’s a tree right outside my office window. It’s a source of a lot of joy while I’m here writing or working; because, birds will often come perch on its branches, oftentimes taking shelter when a sudden shower comes.
I mention it; because, with the bitter cold we had over Christmas, it has done something I’ve never seen it do—shed all of its leaves. I’ve seen the leaves on it turn brown and even thin out after a spate of fierce cold. But, whatever kind it is, it seems to hold onto its leaves throughout the seasons. So, now, as I look out at its naked branches, I’m concerned about whether or not the cold somehow got to it over the past few weeks and has caused it irreparable harm.
I’m not educated in the ways of trees and it’s not valuable enough to pay for someone to come and look at it. We will, through the remainder of the months when the sun is still battling its way back to dominance over the night, have to wait to see what warmer and longer days will bring.
But as I wait, the occasional Cardinal or Wren will come and perch in the rare, bright, sunlit mornings, enjoying the place to rest where there is no shade. And, I wonder if it knows more than me about such things than I do. It knows a reason to hope that these branches will come to life again.
Creator of all, help me hold onto the hope of renewal even in the depths of winter.