Monday of the Second Week of Advent
All the paths of the Lord are love and faithfulness
to those who keep his covenant and his testimonies. Psalm 25:9
The glow of the streetlight illumines the snow-crusted branches highlighting the intricate lines and curves of the leafless tree outside my window.
The snow came faster and sooner and more abundantly than expected, and I know the beauty I contemplate is seasoned with delight and disappointment and danger. Nevertheless, I am captivated by this single tree.
I am drawn in by the patterns among, between and amidst the braches, negative space now come to the fore. With my eyes I try to follow one path, tracing a twisting way as branch forks into smaller branch dividing again and again into final twig. The ways diverge with delightful intricacy, one starting point resulting in more combinations than I care to follow. All the paths are new to me. All belong to one tree. All their possibilities have been there all along, simply hidden by the foliage of another season.
And in the dance of the bare branches I see the way of God as well. The paths of the Lord diverge into more possibility than we can imagine. The paths of the Lord reach out in hope in any season. The paths of the Lord may lie hidden beyond our notice, but they are paths nonetheless. The paths of the Lord are many, and all are love and faithfulness.
God has invited me into this contemplation; I can’t wait to see where the next step will lead me.
Copyright Anne E. Kitch 2013
