A dear friend of mine who also suffers from severe lupus is not a believer. Nevertheless, we share a very profound sense of faith that’s summed up by saying, “Spring will come.”

Of course, from my perspective, the phrase relates to knowing that suffering leads to grace and joy and that Our Lord’s trial on the cross resulted in the Resurrection and our eternal salvation.

From my friend’s perspective, the phrase relates to the knowledge that, no matter how long winter might be – or how deep the suffering, the seasons follow one after another. After night, the sun can be counted on to rise. After brutal cold, warmth will arrive.

With respect for our differences , my friend and I can gain much support from one another. The basis of the support is positive, refreshing, and certainly a help when we sag a bit or a lot in spirit “of a day,” during the worst of flares. I feel no resistance when I witness to my faith, and I can totally agree with my friend’s assessment of the natural world and its relation to spiritual truths.

Much of the US is covered in snow or ice or some other precipitation. In California, drought has rendered much of the flora brittle and brown. But peeping through the snow, or rustling within dry branches, are hints. Hints of the beauty to come. Hints of spring.

As is true with our chronic illnesses and pain, much of the trajectory of flares is out of our control and in God’s hands. And so it is with winter, the coldest of seasons. We cannot control how long it will last (groundhog prognostications notwithstanding). But we can be assured. Yes, we can.

We can know that spring will come. And I, for one, have my eyes peeled for those first signs of blessed thaw!

Blessings for the day,
Maureen