What Grows Beneath the Snow

A few days ago, the weather turned warm—for January in Ohio, anyway. The eight inches of snow that had blanketed the ground melted away, and we seized the moment.

We cleaned up the yard, scrubbed the bird baths, and picked up fallen tree limbs. A lovely spring-like gift in the middle of winter.

Of course, there are still months ahead where snow will accumulate, and I’ll bundle up in layers to stay warm. But what matters most is what we discovered under all that snow.

Green and growing things. The pointed shoots of narcissus and daffodils are pushing through. Buds are forming on the hydrangea. Even my tiny violet pansies are still thriving in a pot.

Under all that snow. In the cold. Still growing.

It’s a reminder I needed.

Yes, there is so much to be dismayed about in the world. Sometimes it feels like there’s no hope.

What’s the point? Layers of cynicism, hate, distrust, ego, and greed produce fear and despair that seem insurmountable.

I hate to compare snow to these forces—snow is beautiful, and these patterns of thought are not. But the metaphor holds: underneath all that weight and cold, life is still growing.

Because it is.

Hope thrives no matter the climate. Not wishful thinking or useless hope, but hope grounded in the knowledge that grace and love will overcome hate and despair.

But we have to be the sun. We have to warm the earth. We have to log out of the belief that there are no solutions to humanity’s problems.

When we stay trapped in that perception, we add to the very layers of fear and greed that create the actions none of us agree with.

We become part of the problem we claim to oppose.

To return to an awareness of consistent grace, we must be present to the truth that goodness is—can only be—the only real power.

Step outside into nature and notice: we are not the creators of this beauty. We are the filters, the interpreters of what we see.

So let’s choose to see what beauty, grace, courage, and kindness are growing. Let’s support that.

Yes, it takes practice. It requires an agreement to give up participating in the adrenaline-producing actions and discussions that lead to distrust and division.

Instead, be present with yourself and each other in the presence of grace.

This is not a passive state—it requires action.

First, we shift our perception. Then, we reach out and help those in need, knowing there is a solution.

That solution begins with us. We are the green growing shoots. We are the blossoms even in the dark winter.

We are the solution. Let’s get busy practicing living as if grace, beauty, and love are the only powers.

Because they are.

But we won’t see that truth until we choose it and live it.

Then, and only then, it becomes the ground of our being which can withstand all suggestions that there is any presence or power other than the omniscience and omnipresence of Infinite Good.

Since perception produces reality, choose this one.

Then go look for proof that this is true. Prove it for yourself, so others can find it for themselves, too.

Be the green growing shoot of hope.

The world is counting on you.