Love Ever-present

From a still ravine
the late-winter scene
embodies a low point in life:

Barren trees rise
toward metal-gray skies
Like sharp edges of a knife,

While high loom the hills,
Silent and still,
casting a gloom-laden pall—

Not even is heard
From the forest birds
a song or a chirp or a call.

But in silence deep,
life merely sleeps,
for God works in mysterious ways:

Quiet, unseen,
sap flows through trees,
just waiting for sun-lengthened days,

And soon in nests
Where winter birds rest,
eggs will be ready to hatch,

While ’neath brown leaves
begin to reach
green stalks of a lily patch;

Squirrels scamper ’round,
digging the ground
for gifts of last fall’s harvest,

While trees long dead
on the forest bed
offer safety, warmth and respite.

Silent He seems,
like winter streams
waiting for ice to be thawed.

But nature shows
how His care overflows—
trust in the ever-present
love of God.

By Natalie Hoefer

(Natalie Hoefer is a member of St. Monica Parish and a reporter for The Criterion.) †

The Criterion