The Beauty of Holiness - Part 3

Continuing the series...

Part 1 here
Part 2 here

I highly encourage you to read Part 1 before continuing through - Part 2 was just a response of mine during a time of stress, not necessary for the thread to be continuous in your heart and mind!

I have been reading a book about making crosses (click here to go to the title on Amazon.)  I love the idea of the empty cross - did you know Christianity is the only religion on earth where our Founder is still alive?!?!?!  I have made crosses, bought crosses, I have a collection of crosses...I love this blog post about crosses in her home.  Click on this post to find an amazing (and alarming!) post about the changing definition of what the cross means "a-cross" the globe...

It has been a month since I posted on "The Beauty of Holiness"...and it was as I was contemplating the cross I had made during Holy Week - in response to the book and my own liturgical roots...that I heard the familiar voice of the Holy Spirit telling me the significance of the piece...this cross is fashioned from a plant's flower stalk and seed pods that grow wild on our land...the common name is a "Century Plant"...it is a succulent that does well in our area of Texas - the border of prairie and desert... I found the pods appealing,

I could see how to remove some of the small branches that once held blossoms and now spent pods to form the cross with little to no manipulation.

Have you ever felt that you have blossomed and now the beauty is all spent?  

The Spirit began parading the images of all the seeds I had ever seen before "the eyes of my spirit".
All smaller than the blossom...dark...hard...
Do you feel "smaller" than before?  Has what you held dear been removed from you?  Are there dark and hard constraints around what you once believed?  Or perhaps you have only known darkness and hardness around the real you? Have dreams fallen to the ground?  Is the life you thought Jesus promised only a shadow now? 

Only hope can see the life waiting to emerge inside a small seed. 
Is there a shred of hope that the promise of God can still come to pass in your life?  Or is even that gone?

For newness to emerge, the dark shell must split apart.
A breaking, more pain in the midst of darkness and hardness?

Sometimes a soaking in water is used to soften the outer shell first, helping the growing life within to push through that which constrains...
Has the water of the Word been soaking around you?  
Is there a whisper of life unfolding deep within?

But still, for this life to emerge healthy, the seed always must be planted - into a dark womb of soil and moisture...where the outer shell dissolves and the plant pushes towards the light...how does this young life always know which way is up and out?
Is this new life, your new dream growing, pushing against the constraints encompassing it?  Is there discomfort, confusion, desire to be out of the seed stage and emerging with leaves and stems...but don't be in a hurry, the continued womb of development is an important part of a strong plant...

And such is the path of life lived in Resurrection power!

Now, if there are ideas that were given as you read, make sure you take a moment to write them, record what the dark outer shell is for you, the constraints that the new life is pushing against, what is the name of this new life for you, etc...reflect on them, and let the Lord show His purpose if you are in a "seed-time"... 


Linking up with Emily and other imperfects at Imperfect Prose 
and Tiffini at Word Women Wednesday
and linking up with Ann at walk with him wednesdays