Meditation Monday - Growing Resilience Through Winter
On Saturday I celebrated my 74th birthday and as I usually do at this time of the year , I spent quite a while looking back over my life. The word that stood out for me was resilience which resulted in my Spiritual Practice - Building Resilience last week and the decision to follow it up with more on resilience this week. So many people I know try to avoid the struggling times and wall off their pain. Yet it is these that build our resilience and strengthen our faith.
My life has been a series of adventures. When I moved from Australia to New Zealand to start my medical practice I energetically hiked, and climbed over mountains, up glaciers and around lakes, drinking in the breathtaking scenery. Then I travelled to Greece to join the M/V Anastasis and spent twelve challenging but important years with Mercy Ships experiencing the privilege of starting their medical ministry, working in refugee camps and visiting over 50 countries across the globe.
In 1992 Tom and I were married and in the 30+ years since we have shared more fantastic adventures, exploring special places, ministering together, and offering hospitality in our home to people near and far. There have been challenging times too, such as when Tom’s sons Clint and Wes died and when our property on Camano was vandalized. It’s been a wonderful but not always and easy life. Through it all, we both grew in our love and appreciation of each other, and in our love and commitment to God.
As I reminisced this weekend, I sat in my office looking out at a huge maple tree that I call my sentinel tree because it is always the first to herald the changing seasons. At the moment it is barren and stark. The beautiful skeletal pattern of its branches is all that I can see. I know however that hidden within those branches is the promise of spring and of new life. In a couple of months it will be covered in green leaves. The garden too looks barren. The daffodils are just beginning to emerge, but many of the trees are devoid of leaves. Winter is a time for building resilience and the garden teaches me much about how I can encourage it to thrive.
Winter is a Time for Pruning
January and February are when we prune the fruit trees and rose bushes. Why in winter you might wonder? Partly because when everything is devoid of leaves it is easy to tell what needs to be cut away. The dead wood, the misshapen and scraggly branches that will not bear fruit, the shoots that sprout in the wrong direction are all laid bare. It is a little like that in our lives too. When we pass through the winters of doubt and depression, through the struggles with illness and loss, the characteristics that are at odds with what God is doing in our lives, that we become aware of the dead wood that needs to be pruned.
I am the true vine, and My Father is the keeper of the vineyard. My Father examines every branch in Me and cuts away those who do not bear fruit. He leaves those bearing fruit and carefully prunes them so that they will bear more fruit; (John 15: 1,2 The Voice)
God the master gardener examines every “branch”, every bit of growth in us from years past, and determines what needs to be saved and what needs to go. Healthy trees need pruning and so do we. All it requires is for us to hold onto Christ “the true vine” through regular spiritual disciplines, those strong structural branches that build resilience.
Winter is a Time to Send Down Roots.
Most of our fruit trees and berry bushes were planted in autumn. Why you might wonder? Won’t they die over the winter? No, autumn is the best time to plant trees and bushes. When there is no growth above ground all the energy goes into sending down roots that can go deep searching for water and anchoring the plant.
He is like a tree planted by water,
sending out its roots beside the stream.
It does not fear the heat or even drought.
Its leaves stay green and its fruit is dependable, no matter what it faces. (Jeremiah 17:8 The Voice)
Resilience requires deep spiritual roots that protect us during all seasons from floods and droughts and chaos. Just as trees put down strong roots in winter, so our souls find fertile ground for growth and renewal over long winter seasons. And just as a tree with deep roots bears more fruit so will we. It is not just our scripture reading and prayer that send down roots. The practice of gratitude is one that has deepened my roots and revolutionized my life over the last few years. Noticing and thanking God for the good things God has done is at the heart of a resilient faith. My awe and wonder walks too have built resilience. Seeing the goodness of God in the world around me give me confidence in the goodness that God has placed deep within me.
Maple Syrup Harvesting photo Jason Aki
Winter Intensifies the Sweetness
Have you ever wondered why maple syrup is harvested in winter? Evidently, as the weather cools, the concentration of sugar in each cell increases dramatically and the plasma membrane becomes more flexible. It literally produces its own sugary antifreeze that embraces the precious cell contents and stops it freezing, keeping it safe until spring. This mechanism doesn’t just operate in maple trees, it is an adaption that most winter hardy trees have. Without it their sap would freezes and branches would die.
During the hard winter seasons of life, we too often feel that all the sweetness within us withdraws to some inner hidden place. We want it to flow and fill us again, without realizing that its very retraction is what keeps us alive. Sometimes trees are fooled by an early warm spell into sending their sap out to their extremities too soon. A late frost catches them by surprise and might kill a tree that usually would withstand a very cold winter. Several years ago we almost lost our peach trees to an April snowfall. They never fully recovered their former glory. Becoming resilient means waiting patiently and allowing winter to do its full work before we unfurl our new leaves and get ready to bear fruit.
Resilience grows in us as we slow down and enjoy the sweet sugary embrace of God’s protective presence.
In Winter Buds And Fruit Wait Patiently.
Deciduous trees, which includes many fruit trees like apples and pears, and berries like blueberries, set buds that contain next year’s leaves and flowers, in the autumn. These buds remain dormant, enclosed in a protective shell awaiting the warm spring weather to stir them into growth. It’s not only the sap that needs to remain dormant until the right season. An early warm spell followed by a sudden freeze can decimate a fruit crop if the leaves and flowers unfurl too soon and then freeze again.
How often I wonder do we force buds into bloom before their time? How often are we impatient to see growth when God is saying wait, there is another icy blast on the way? Yet resilience means accepting the season in which we find ourselves, even the icy winters when nothing seems to grow.
In Winter Trees Look After Themselves.
As I reflect on how trees adapt to the icy blast of winter, I realize that more than anything they are used to looking after themselves. They know the signs that winter is approaching and they do what they need to in order to survive. They are pretty good at preparation and self care and because of that are indeed resilient.
It makes me aware however that we often ignore the signs that tell us a winter season is on its way. In last week’s post I mentioned that a season of productivity is meant to be followed by one of rest and renewal. But we don’t often want to take the time. We don’t build the inner resources we need to adapt and we don’t grow the resilience that will see us through. We want to keep growing and producing fruit all the time.
How Do You Grow Resilience?
How do you prepare for a winter season. Set aside some time today or in the next week to reflect on how you could best prepare for a winter season.
How do you recognize the signs?
What kind of pruning might God want to do in your life?
What would it look like to “withdraw your sap” and the sugary sweetness of your spirit?
What are the buds that need protecting through the winter in order to grow properly when spring arrives?
What do you need to do for self care