Winter Colors

If someone asks “what are the colors of winter?,” the easy response is “grey and white.”  Grey skies and white snow.  However, this morning I was reminded of how winter is filled with many other colors.  But before that, a bit about one of my dear favorite books.

It is a book of blessings by John O’Donohue entitled To Bless the Space Between Us.  I have used this book so many times in my own personal life but also in my ministry life and in many other contexts.  One of the blessings he shares is simply entitled For Beauty.

As stillness in stone to silence is wed,
May solitude foster your truth in word.

As a river flows in ideal sequence,
May your soul reveal where time is presence.

As the moon absolves the dark of distance,
May your style of thought bridge the difference.

As the breath of light awakens color,
May the dawn anoint your eyes with wonder.

As spring rain softens the earth with surprise,
May your winter places be kissed by light.

As the ocean dreams to the joy of dance,
May the grace of change bring you elegance.

As clay anchors a tree in light and wind,
May your outer life grow from peace within.

As twilight pervades the belief of night,
May beauty sleep lightly within your heart.

O'Donohue, John. To Bless the Space Between Us (pp. 121-122). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

I dearly love this blessing and it stirred in me this morning as I was out with Scout as my day was starting.  Two lines in particular connected with me:

As the breath of light awakens color, May the dawn anoint your eyes with wonder // May your winter places be kissed by light.

As we were nearing the end of our walk, the sun was starting to emerge from behind grey clouds.  The clouds to the east were illuminated in the slightest shade of pink and then a rainbow of colors cascaded down from the pink, white, and blue of the sky down to the path at my feet.  Deep browns of the barren trees, grey low-hanging fog, the reddish brown of the brush followed by the faded yellow and pale green of the grasses before finally reaching the black and grey asphalt of the walking path.  It was not a normal rainbow but it was a rainbow nonetheless of a different sort.  It was a winter place kissed by light and a moment where the colors of winter were awakened by the early morning breath of light.  And my eyes beheld wonder.