White frost crisping

Dear friends,

Sorry it has been so long since I sent out a website update - my internet has been misbehaving.  Hopefully it will work today. 
Christmas and the New Year are now long gone, work and school have re-established their patterns, and winter still holds sway.  Today it is just grey, but there are many moments of beauty with frost or snow or winter sun which this piece celebrates.

White frost crisping

Ooh, what a wonder.  The world is full of white frost crisping and holding each blade and edge, and the sky is full of blue and a round sun that lingers lovingly on all the surfaces it can find to warm the sparkle back into mist in the air.  The grass is in patterns of sharp white and glistening wet according to the sun’s travels.  And I, I am sitting outside on a cold winter day with the warmth of sun beams befriending my face and my front, a day with a smile, a day to savour, a day to learn the blessings of surprise. 
And we are all held by the goodness of God, sparkling with glittering frost, or shining with warmed wet, or beaming with sun-stroked honour.  Whether we are children of the night or day, we can own the honour of being loved, we can feed our marrow with the germ of God’s goodness.  And whether or not we knew this before, we can bathe in its message and let comfort restore our soul to its rightful dignity. 
© Jane Upchurch

I have printed it all out for you this time as it is short, and I know some of you don’t have time to visit the website, but to read it there go to http://www.janeupchurch.co.uk/view/words

I have added two new poems, ‘If I had stayed at home’ also celebrating a frosty day, and ‘Jesus the branch of Jesse’ a meditation on Isaiah 11.1-3a in the Word Live section (see below).

If I had stayed at home

If I had stayed at home
on this cold-curling morn
I wouldn’t have seen the frost
hang curtains of still leaves
or toast the house tops with sugar.

To read the rest go to http://www.janeupchurch.co.uk/view/poems

Jesus, the branch of Jesse

Before you came,
before we knew you,
what did we expect?

To read the rest go to http://www.janeupchurch.co.uk/view/word-live


Love Jane