Those Parable Moments

I've been thinking about parables lately, not only the ones Christ taught, but the parables around us.  I see them from time to time.  I write about them from time to time.  Some of my already posted blog posts are about some of those parable moments.  Some call that metaphorical writing, I prefer to call it a parable because there is always something to learn, something to help me understand more, to be better, or maybe just to help me endure.  Something that comes to mind is the change of seasons.  Living in Idaho now has me experiencing that change in a whole different light.  Yes, I know I grew up in Idaho, but I've also lived in Arizona for over 40 years.  I've experienced different types of seasons and I also see things differently as an adult, or maybe as an adult in this particular stage of life.  I see and experience winter here in Idaho but I'm not a fan of Idaho winters. Oh it's okay, even nice until Christmas, then I don't like it anymore.  I'm ready for spring.  But spring doesn't happen on my timetable.  I just have to wait and wait and wait..... And then when the 1st signs of spring arrive, I want to dig and plant and see flowers.  But, alas I still have to wait and wait and wait.  I see a pattern here and something to learn, perhaps about patience. Yes definitely about patience.  But it's more than that.  Here in the winter, when it's really cold and snowy and icy, there is a real lack of joy for me.  Everything seems dead outside.  I don't go out much, actually I don't think many do.  I don't see my neighbors out and about near as much in the winter.  I think people just stay in a lot more.  At least that's my impression.  There's a lot more depression in the winter months.  Lack of sunshine, lack of vitamin D, increased depression, oh I know there's science behind it, but still something to learn, something of a parable.  Some winters last a lot longer than others and even though we are ready for spring, it just seems like it may never come, but it does and the weather starts to change.... sometimes gradually, sometimes more drastically, but it changes.  More sunshine, warmer temperatures, snow and ice gone and I start to see people outside, walking, biking, working in yards.  Things start to bud and grow.  Somehow, the bulbs and roots store energy and nutrients and food, just waiting patiently for the right time to sprout.  Again, a scientific explanation.  Seeing that new life sprout up from a once frozen ground is amazing.  What I feel inside is incredible too, something like an awakening.  A renewed sense.  I guess it's no wonder that Easter is in the spring.   After all that's what Easter is all about, that awakening and renewing, even a perfecting.  So many things to learn and experience and understand, just by observing the change of seasons.

We certainly all have those change of seasons in our lives.  Some winter periods of our journey are mild, some pretty severe.  Some are long and some relatively not so long.  We may even stay inside ourselves and not venture out.  I have certainly experienced that.  For some it might seem like spring is so far away, maybe even not coming at all.  Lack of joy, lack of hope, even despair.  But even the weather, the change of seasons we experience every year is teaching us about our Heavenly Father's plan and our Savior's role.  Spring will come, the sun will shine.  New growth can and does sprout out of that once frozen ground and it is an incredible thing to see.  It is an even more incredible thing to feel and experience that growth sprouting within ourselves.  The Son will heal us from the winters in our lives, no matter how severe, how hopeless or how long.  He not only heals us, but is with us every single minute of those long winters.  If we can only stay rooted in our Savior's life and love, we will have what we need to survive those winters and it most definitely will be a glorious Spring.