Seasons of Rest by Lorilee Guenter

 

Parched, like a drought stricken land, the ideas sit half formed. They wait for a gentle rain to grow and burst into bloom. This summer my yard has been parched. I've tried to keep some of it watered using an often empty rain barrel and a garden hose. It is not the same as a gentle rain for creating summer abundance. So too the landscape of my mind has felt dry. I've tried to keep pieces of creativity alive, watering them with walks in God's creation, praise music and more. It is not the same as a season of creative abundance.

I recently realised there is a pattern, a rhythm, to my creative year, just as there is a rhythm to the seasons. In nature, winter is a season of dormancy, a season of rest. The perennials rest under sheets of leaves and blankets of snow. They are not dead. They await their next season of growth. Summer is my season of creative dormancy. The abundant colour, sights and sounds of the garden pull me outside. Trails entice us to take a hike. They refresh. Like a houseplant flowering in January, there are glimpses of the season to come. 

Many times I have tried to force the season of abundant creativity to continue, just as I tried this year to overcome the drought. It does not work. Rest and renewal are necessary pieces of life. Without them we struggle and wither. But God does not leave us there. He walks with us, caring for us, as He tends to our needs as the Master Gardener, the Loving Father.

As summer gives way to fall, I notice the ideas start to sprout. The time of rest starts to give way to the time of growth. Maybe next time I won't resist the rest quite so much. Instead I will attempt to savour the January blossom as a reminder of what is to come.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.

Lorilee Guenter is a writer and artist who enjoys gardening and hiking. Sometimes she can be stubborn and miss the gift that is in front of her by trying to do things her own way.