Late winter, early spring
March 5th, 2008 ~ Orthodox perspectiveYesterday was almost too bright to look at, but today the sky is overcast again. That’s the way it goes at this time of year. This morning I heard the insistent, liquid song of a cardinal outside the window, but today the birds are silent except for the occasional bleating of migrating geese. Spring is coming, that’s for sure. But winter isn’t through yet.
I’d like to think that it was early March when the psalmist wrote in Psalm 147:
Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem!
Praise your God, O Zion! …
He sends out His command to the earth;
His word runs very swiftly.
He gives snow like wool;
He scatters the frost like ashes;
He casts out His hail like morsels;
Who can stand before His winter?
He sends out His word and melts them;
He causes His wind to blow, and the waters flow.
.And I’d like to think that St. John of Kronstadt was enjoying a spring day when he wrote something I read today in “My Life in Christ”:
I feel bright, warm, and tranquil, when I turn with my whole soul to the mental sun, the Sun of righteousness, to Christ my God. Then the ice of my heart melts, all its darkness, impurity, and corruption, vanish; spiritual death flees, heavenly life reigns in its stead, and nothing earthly occupies me any longer.
Just as well that Lent begins at this time. Maybe it can help melt the ice of my heart as well.
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March 5th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
Amen. I am really struck by Spring this year, it’s so brilliant and bursting forth and my heart can be so icy so it’s a good thing Lent is coming!
March 6th, 2008 at 4:24 am
Your writing is beautiful. “Maybe it can help melt the ice of my heart as well.” Could you please let me know the autor and edition of “My Life in Christ”?
March 6th, 2008 at 10:20 am
Many thanks for the kind words!
As for “My Life in Christ,” I’m always ready to gush about this book. I’ve got a long post about it HERE, but here’s the short version: It’s a volume of hundreds of short daily thoughts and reflections by St. John of Kronstadt, a married parish priest living in a small village in Russia. He lived relatively recently ( 1829-1908 ) so his struggles and observations seem very contemporary. But he also had a deep devotion to Orthodox truth, and so his words are timeless and profound.
The book in English is out of print. But there is an abridged collection of these reflections called “Spiritual Counsels” that’s very good — link HERE. Or, if you want to get a used copy of the unabridged “My Life in Christ” (which is what I did), here’s one via Amazon — link HERE.