Ashes

"to grant consolation and joy to those who mourn. To give them an ornament of beauty instead of ashes..." Today, reading, my Father gently reminded me of the pictures I took in Canada of the burnt Kootney Park Forrest. The huge felled trees that had the smallest life form growing right next to it...it intrigued me, but now I can see why more clearly. It is not just that you have "ashes", but that ashes are the REMAINS of something burnt. Something destroyed by intense heat, by a careless act, by an act of God.....still, the fire started, burned, destroyed, smoldered, and the once strong trees are consumed by it....until they have not the strength to stand and must fall to the ground charred, broken, unproductive.....and yet....it is the ashes of these burns that actually FEED the new Forrest....they provide the nutrients and environment for new growth. Something that was once a solid form has changed its state of being. It is now become food for the new and ever changing Forrest. And those new growths bring new life, not only to the Forrest, but to the creatures who live there as they can come feed on the new growth. And so it with my life...with our lives together....we were burnt a year ago, we have fallen, but we are being fed on the ashes and strengthened ...we grow green in the shadow of our once tall standing life. There is life after a burn....from the passersby view, it seems hopeless and devastating...it looks like it can NEVER be pretty again! But to those who know....who have seen these fires....who know the outcome either by experience, or training, or just paying attention, it is a bitter sweet picture. The loss of what was, is sad....but the hope of what that loss will bring is exciting! And so we are...."a burned out Forrest and no one could do anything for me. But You put food in my body, water in my dry bed and to my blackened branches You brought the springtime green and a new life...nothing is impossible for YOU.... You have redeemed my soul from the pit of emptiness, You have redeemed my soul from death."