Embrace brief, cyclical moments in life’s every day

<p>Warily accepting that it truly might be spring, Becky and I go for a walk in the woods. Our purpose is to enjoy the sun, the breeze and the pleasant temperatures, but the abundance of spring flowers we keep spotting make us realize that our real purpose, our raison d’etre for this particular walk, must be to enjoy these tiny colorful flowers peeking through the leaves on the forest floor.</p><p>Wow, were they beautiful. Becky can barely contain herself. “A Spring Beauty!” she exclaims. “A Jack-In-The-Pulpit! And Trillium! Here’s a spread of Cut Leaf Toothwort! There are some Dutchman’s Breeches! And, look! An array of Trout Lillies!” She says them with capital letters.</p><p>I forget plant names almost as soon as I hear them, Becky, on the other hand, has a talent for retaining them and calling on them when she needs to. She refers to these small early bloomers as a group, as “Spring Ephemerals,” and I realize I had forgotten that I knew that term, as well. These are plants that take advantage of the sunlight which reaches the forest floor in early spring before the leaves on the trees develop a canopy which blocks the sun. Ephemerals have evolved to quickly bloom, produce seed then die back to their underground parts all in the short time before their light is gone.</p><p>And now I remember how much I like the word “ephemeral.” The dictionary tells me it means “Lasting a very short time,” but the word evokes a much more expansive idea in my mind.</p><p>To me it sounds like slowly wafting gauze. Like airy floating ghosts. I hear the word and think of Bible verses comparing life to a vapor (James) or a fleeting mist (Ecclesiastes) or smoke from a chimney (Hosea). On a more secular level, I think of the 1970s song by Kansas, “Dust in The Wind.” Here today; gone tomorrow. Just like these tiny delicate plants that are claiming their temporary share of this brief spring sunlight. Just like Becky and me. Just like all of us.</p><p>Of course, the verses could be read as a negative nihilistic view of life. “Why bother?” one might respond if life is so brief and uncertain. Another way to understand the verses, though, is as a caution to adopt a spirit of humility and acceptance in the face of bigger things, in the face of the Biggest Thing.</p><p>Recently during our daily spiritual readings, Becky and I encountered a selection by C.S. Lewis. It was from The Screwtape Letters. In the novel, narrated by a senior demon advising a Junior Tempter on how to capture humans souls, Screwtape points out how humans have a horror of “The Same Old Thing.” Humans want novelty because they are bound in time, and yet they long for permanence because they are spiritual beings, he explains. Lewis goes on to argue through Screwtape’s words that rather than constantly longing for the Latest Thing which can never really satisfy, we can find balance only by a gift we are given: “…that union of change and permanence which we call rhythm… Each season different yet every year the same, so that spring is always felt as a novelty yet always as a recurrence of an immemorial theme.”</p><p>Yes. Our walk in the woods reminds us once again of the Circle of Nature encompassing both the new and the permanent. A time for sunlight and a time for shadow. A time to be born and a time to die. Just like spring ephemerals.</p>