A spring snowstorm blew in under the darkness of night, and Easter morning at the ranch dawned frozen and still.
The creek that winds past the barn and from which Blue, the horse, likes to drink still ran loud and swift, water dancing and lapping its banks while branches of nearby trees hung heavy with ice over the flowing stream.
Surreal in a way that only nature can conjure, those glistening frozen branches, painted white with snow, seemed to me to be wilderness Easter lilies.
Symbolically, on that day when hope is renewed, the branches embodied the meaning of the religious holiday. Frozen and still, carrying a heavy burden, they soon would warm and rise back toward the sky. As the sun rose they would come back to life, renewed, and buds would bloom with the hope of spring.
The business of life is about ups and downs, happiness and sadness, hopes dashed, dreams renewed, dying, being born, living. A sense of perspective is necessary to get back up once you are stalled or knocked down. Living in the moment, knowing that most events are transitory, seeing beauty and hope, sometimes in the smallest of places, helps smooth the edges and keep life in balance. Seeing life through a prism of optimism helps us keep going and keep trying, helps us stay in the game when we might feel like giving up.
It’s all about how you choose to look at things. There is beauty wherever you look but it’s not always readily apparent. Like all things, finding it may take work. There is always a beautiful bird in the sky, a flower blooming, the reflection of the sun on a pool of water, a sunrise, a sunset, the kindness of someone you love or even a stranger.
Still and frozen branches hanging over flowing streams, symbolizing Easter and its meaning for me, are everywhere. Hope and beauty are everywhere. You just have to look.
Richard Connor is president and publisher of the Fort Worth Business Press. Contact him at rconnor@bizpress.net