Ours was a winter of yet another severe
pruning in the High Country. It has felt to
be a time of progression, each year building
on the one prior, in all that has been stripped
away. Driving the the Blue Ridge this spring
shows striking evidence of this year's increase,
as winter's ice storms and high winds laid bare.
My camera found this to be a perfect depiction
of what we have seen in the natural, echoing
what I know to be true in the Spirit. God is
cutting to the heart, graciously showing us what
in our lives needs to be pruned and cut away. It
is an act of His grace, revealing what is there,
hidden in the depths, where only His Light can
illuminate. It is not beautiful, and as I have cried
at the sight, driving our beloved Parkway, I have
cried also at what I have seen in my heart. Repentant
tears allow remembrance, and the message of Easter
Resurrection stirs anew. His gift of redemption
and renewal through a single sacrifical act of Love.
With a grateful heart, I lay all at the foot of the Cross.
