Yesterday, I had an appointment with the periodontist, then an appointment with the medical imaging nurse, and then an appointment with the doctor in fairly close succession. There was though, the briefest opportunity to stop off between appointments and wander out to a spot I know in Belair National Park. Here the first blue fairy orchids of the year tend to appear. From late summer onwards, there’s not all that much to see, and then winter brings out its earth-toned orchids, so the arrival of the bright blue fairy orchid is always a favourite moment. The blue fairy, harbinger of spring, making promises that in just one more month, warmer days and sunshine, colour and life will replace the cold and colourless days. It is the arrival of hope. And this year, with autumn being so dry and winter seemingly so long, I have never needed to see a flower more!
So, yesterday, with less than an hour to play with, and my mouth still completely numb from the dental shenanigans, I parked the car, put on my hiking boots (that live in the car), and wandered into the National Park. The helmet orchids and shell orchids were not in their usual spot. A difficult season. The mosquito orchids seemed to have stalled too. Maybe they’ll arrive late. It didn’t bode well as I wandered towards the special site. And at the site, I studied the ground for a good five minutes, and nothing… until a single bright blue flower came into view.
My heart leapt for joy as I knelt down to greet this gift of nature, and my eyes spontaneously watered – revealing just how much I had been needing a sign of spring. I don’t think I had fully appreciated how hard the last few months have been. How, somewhere in the rainless and thankless autumn, and the barren and hostile winter, I too have been in my own state of suspended animation. Waiting. Longing. For the return of spring. A new season. A new day.
“When you were born, the hibiscus was in bloom,
And the leaves outside my window were a bright green room.
When you were born, there were no clouds in view,
You came down from the heavens, and the world felt new.”
Frazey Ford’s song about the birth of her son speaks to a new world of colour and expansion and possibility. I want the possibilities that a new day brings.
In the words of Robert Louis Stevenson: “When the day returns, return to us, our sun and comforter, and call us up with morning faces and with morning hearts… eager to be happy.” I love those words, “eager to be happy.” I want the sun and comfort. I want a morning face and a morning heart. I would choose happiness.
I can’t help but think of David’s Psalm, “at daybreak I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly.” I will start this new day at Your feet, and wait for You. And in the words of Zechariah’s prophecy, “Because of God’s merciful compassion, the Dawn from on high will visit us to shine on those who live in darkness… to guide our feet into the way of peace.” I will wait for the new dawn to banish the darkness and guide me towards peace.
I may wonder with the hymnwriter, “Who am I, that the bright and Morning Star would choose to the light the way for my ever-wandering heart?” It is a mystery – “almost too wonderful to be” as another hymn goes. And yet, morning comes and brings new mercies.
The warmer days are approaching. The season of blossom and birdsong is approaching. And a single small blue fairy orchid has been its herald. I am eager to be happy. Jesus says to His disciples, “These things I’ve told you, so that My joy may be in you, and your joy may be made full.” So, I will meditate on His words, and let them be to me a new Dawn and source of joy, bestowing on me “a morning face and a morning heart.”
“Morning has broken like the first morning,
blackbird has spoken like the first bird.
Praise for the singing! Praise for the morning!
Praise for them springing, fresh from the Word.
Mine is the sunlight! Mine is the morning
born of the one light Eden saw play!
Praise with elation, praise every morning,
God’s recreation of the new day!”
Scripture refs. Ps. 5:3, Lk. 1:78-79, Lam. 3:22-23, Song 2:12, Jn. 15:11, Ps. 1:2-3.
“When the day returns…” by Robert Louis Stevenson
“Who am I?” is by John Mark Hall
“When you were born…” from “Saul” by Frazey Ford
“It is a thing most wonderful” is by William Walsham How
“Morning has broken” is by Eleanor Farjeon