The Graze V.151: The Season of Mud

Dear Friends,

In between winter and spring in Vermont is the Season of Mud. The abundant snow disappears and dark, rich earth emerges. The fields and paths are filled with messy mud. The ground is wet, sloppy and spongy. Green and flowering growth will come, but this comes first.

It is good to be reminded of the mud. Our sacred stories tell us that God’s first love is the soil. Without healthy soil and the fertility and the food it makes possible, there would be no life of any kind. 

It seems essential that there is a season between the still frozen ground and the emerging new life. There is a kind of mud season in which we have become aware of our own faults, wounds and struggles. We are exposed and vulnerable and not yet comfortable with a new way of living. The clay is still wet and fragile, too tender to cling to.

It is hard to change our lives. To move forward with the emergence of what is new. We need to be humble and patient and gentle with ourselves. And we ought to be so tender with others, They too, have entered into their own mud season. New life will surely come, but only if we respect it. Be gentle with yourself and others, and be patient with the mud. The little green shoots will appear soon enough.

For all that is emerging in you,

Lisa+