“The vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it will speak, and not
lie: though it tarry, wait for it;
because it will surely come, it will not tarry” (Habakkuk 2:3)
The
morning mist is cleared away,
Yet still
the face of Heaven is grey,
Nor yet
this autumnal breeze has stirred the grove,
Faded yet
full, a paler green
Skirts
soberly the tranquil scene,
The
redbreast warbles round this leafy cove...[1]
—John
Keble
Keble
makes his way through a quiet grove. The morning mists have burned away, but
the sky is leaden and gray. Autumnal trees with faded, withered leaves are
ominous signs of cold and bitter winter.
Yet ‘midst
these omens of impending gloom, Keble hears a robin warbling, “singing
so thankful to the dreary blast, though gone and spent its joyous prime. And on
the world's autumnal time,
'mid withered hues and sere, its lot be
cast.”
The robin sings in the face of “calm decay” and a beclouded future, a thankful,
cheerful disposition that reveals the heart of a true seer:
Watching...the
appalling future as it nearer draws:
His spirit
calmed the storm to meet,
Feeling
the rock beneath his feet,
And
tracing through the cloud th’ eternal Cause.
This is
the heart for watchmen true,
Waiting to
see what GOD will do.”
And so our
thoughts rise to seek an answer for the questions of our winter years. Does loneliness,
poverty, disability or dementia await us? If so, what will we do?
Heaven
answers: “Be calm and cheerful in the present though the future is
clouded and uncertain. Have this quiet assurance: Eternal Wisdom and Love is
working for you; all that God does, if rightly understood, will bring about your
final good. Wait to see what He will do.”
DHR
7/11/13
