Good reason to pause

It’s not often that I linger in the stairwell, but the sights of springtime through today's open window gave me good reason to pause. I stood for a while, oblivious to anyone who might have wondered why I came to a standstill only halfway to my destination.

This is the time of year when the earth seems to cry out to be admired, to be gazed upon, to be sought after, to sing its own praises, to say “look at me,” even though the buds and blooms and bursting colors point not to themselves, but to the One who created their beauty.

Tonight’s reading from Sirach 24 during Vespers echoed the same idea…Wisdom singing her own praises.

"Wisdom sings her own praises...Like a cedar of Lebanon I am raised aloft…like a palm tree…like a rose bush…like a fair olive tree in the field…I bud forth delights like the vine, my blossoms become fruit fair and rich. Come to me, all you that yearn for me, and be filled with my fruits."

May the buds, blooms, and bursting colors of springtime turn our thoughts to the Creator of all beauty. And may we yearn for Wisdom, and linger at her feet, with the same delight with which we linger before the beauty of springtime. The Wisdom of God, "like cinnamon, fragrant balm, or precious myrrh," gives us good reason to pause.