Dormancy

Photo by Dulcey Lima on Unsplash

Dormancy - “The state in which a plant is alive but not actively growing.”

Today’s “Purple” Advent devotionalfrom Presbyterian Outlook invites reflection on what we discovered in our Advent journey. I was about to move on and say, “Nothing.” It’s been a tough season.  I started out with lots of plans that never became reality. But I did learn something.  Or maybe relearned something in a new way.  Suffering puts things in perspective.  When life is so difficult that our focus narrows to just making it to the next moment and then the next one, many of the things we thought were worth our time and worry become irrelevant.

For example, I bought enough cans of pumpkin to make bread for neighbors and coworkers and friends, wanting to be one of those people who has a gift for everyone.  That didn’t happen.  I bought Christmas cards last year at the post-Christmas sale so I could send one to everyone.  That didn’t happen either. I also had visions of spending deep, thoughtful, prayerful time with our Advent devotional readings, and some days I did, but most days I just sat and prayed for God to redeem the day.  Or just sat, thankful for the coffee, thankful for making it through the night.

Today, looking back, I’m thankful we got to today, but I’m also realizing that the numbness that made getting here possible also meant that it hasn’t been a time of growth.  Instead it’s been a time of dormancy, and maybe that’s appropriate since it’s winter. We have seasons in our lives much like nature, and sometimes they coincide.  Bears hibernate and sleep.  Trees and plants stop growing. People rest.

Yesterday I was admiring the trees.  Without the cover of leaves, we can see all the lines of limbs and branches and twigs.  I like the green of leaves, but I also like the bare lines and angles and curves.  In their dormancy, all that hides those lines is gone.  They’re down to the basic structure, resting, existing, waiting, being.  We’ve had some of that ourselves in this season.  Instead of leaves, we wear masks that hide the real life inside, and there have been some days when it was impossible to hide the real, so we had to just be.

We often feel guilty about dormancy because the world seems to be all about productivity.  Keep moving.  Keep doing.  And sometimes that’s even helpful.  But sometimes we just can’t. 

That’s why God put the sabbath in the Ten Commandments, and why God told Israel to trust him to fight for them.

“The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.” –Exodus 14:14

So today I’m acknowledging that I don’t always like the way things are or the way things happen, but I’m trusting that even when I’m being still, God’s still working.  I may not know how or when or where, but that’s ok, because God is God and I am not. 

Thanks be to God.