Daffodils and Cold Feet

My feet are freezing! It's supposed to be "spring" and my feet haven't caught up. From where I sit, I can see the first buds of the tulip tree in my backyard. (I love that tree - it told me today that it misses it's hammock - *hint to that man of mine...) The sun is out, the daffodils are thrilled (the ones in the backyard), and it's really lovely... and quite deceptive. Like I said, my feet are freezing!

All the signs point to spring. Outward indications of something yet to come. My soul is like that sometimes. All the indications on the outside crying out "new", but inside cold and hard. I hate that, don't you? I strive to let the inside be what's on the outside - hypocrisy is cancerous. But when we're cold on the inside, we like others to think that "spring" has come because it's supposed to be here.

All the scriptures that leap off the page of late seem to have gardening terms in them. Cracks me up because I kill everything green I'm responsible for. I killed a cactus because I didn't water it - ever. That's just one of many confessions of "planticide" I could make. Getting back to the point... I recently did a workshop at a local ladies retreat. I had to laugh. Their theme was "How Does Your Garden Grow?" After my teaching time, I was fortunate to attend someone elses workshop - a friend of mine had brought some plants from the plant farm she manages. I was dumbfounded at the info she carries between her ears. Reminded me of a doctor - "You have viral rhinitis." What the heck is that? "A cold." I was told that my "narcissus" in the front yard are stretching and that is why near the end of the day they are falling forward like they're top heavy. Daffodils. (I promise I'm getting to a point... hang in there with me.)

There are a few different versions of the fable of "Narcissus". One of them is about a man who loved himself so much and thought himself so beautiful that he sat at a pool of water, staring at his reflection, until he faded away and became a flower - a daffodil. Narcissistic Narcissus. (For fun say that one 5x's fast!) Another fable says he stared so long at his reflection that he was drawn forward and drowned. My friend Tammy says that daffodils need full sunlight. If they don't get it, they will stretch for it. That's why my narcissus is falling face down.

And finally the point. Cold feet - cold heart. What is the problem? Why does the ground of our heart get so cold and hard? There are any number of reasons, but I just want to bring up one. Maybe we've been staring at our own reflection too long. Maybe we get so "me" focused that we fall into the pool of our own self-worship and drown. Maybe we just fade away and the ground we were meant to thrive in becomes a frozen wasteland.

I submit that daffodils should always be called daffodils. They had a name change for a reason. They've learned not to dwell on self. Rather when they get cold, they stretch toward the sun for warmth and nourishment. What's the remedy for a heart that longs for spring, but seems to cling to winter? Stretch, child! Stretch! Turn your face toward the Son and stretch until the light of His face warms you. We may have to stretch until we fall face down, but when morning comes, the full light of the Son will cause us to stand.

And like the daffodils in the backyard that seem to "thrill", even in the coldsnaps, we'll have pliable, warm soil to grow in. What's inside will be seen on the outside. Spring without the cold feet.


Copyright 2008 Sharon Denise Dorminy