The daffodils are in full bloom. Everywhere you look there’s yellow. It’s like the sun’s shining up from the ground as well as down from the sky.
But just a few short weeks ago there were only a handful of solitary daffodils who’d opened their eyes to the world, the rest still closed up tight. I imagined those daffodils as the first brave and curious explorers, eager to see the world and somehow sensing something good was waiting. I imagined the way they’d wake up, see the wonder and turn to their sleeping brothers and sisters and whisper, ‘Come on, you have no idea how beautiful it is out here!’.
And with the encouragement of those who’d gone before to test the ground, the next cohort of daffodils would wake. In turn, they’d whisper to their neighbours, ‘It’s safe and extraordinary and you really have to see!’. In this way, slowly at first and then with greater and greater momentum, every daffodil would open to the world and see for themselves how glorious it really is.
This is how the world looks to me. We’re each both the brave and curious explorer and the one who’s encouraged and guided by those who’ve gone before.
First we are sleeping, closed tight. Then by grace we hear a whisper to wake from our fearful dream. Here, even though those who’ve gone before tell us it’s safe to arouse from our slumber, we must still muster a great deal of courage to fully open our eyes. For to open our eyes means to let go of the familiar and to step daringly into the unknown.
Finally, eyes wide open, we see the world as it really is for the very first time. Filled with such love and joy and wonder now, we want nothing more than for our brothers and sisters to experience this too. And so, in our own wildly unique ways, we begin to whisper of what we’ve seen. By grace our whispers arrive to the ear of the one who’s ready to become a brave explorer of a whole new world.
By and by, the world wakes up.
This is what we’re here for. First, to be brave. Then, to whisper. Discovering our unique way of whispering is one of the greatest joys of life.
Love and courage,
Leah