There Will Be Roses

(During Lent, we have invited members of the Peace of Christ Church Community to share their own reflections, stories, or poetry about what Lent means to them. This Reflection comes from Rev. Aurelia Dávila Pratt, Lead Pastor at Peace of Christ.)

---

When I first cut them down

it was a yielding

it was a letting go

surrender,

requiring faith that this brutal reckoning 

was necessary for future growth

requiring trust that this shedding

was essential for winter’s rest.

time did its thing and then 

a single sprout

purplish-red in all its glory

and then another, and another!

I prayed for roses by Easter

that those colorful bursts of life

might align with Resurrection

then - 

on the first day of the week 

leading up to Palm Sunday

winter made way for spring 

by way of bloom -  

a glimpse

a gift

nature’s own triumphant entry 

my heart soared!

the pruning

the cutting down

the clearing out

the making way - 

was always the path to beauty

perhaps I can also yield

trust the flow

surrender to cycle. 

after all

Easter is around the corner

and 

there will be roses.

Aurelia has been Lead Pastor at Peace for six years, and a part of it's leadership and staff from its inception. She loves coffee, and is an imago-dei enthusiast who finds real joy in helping people live into the fullness of their God-given divine image. She lives with her husband, daughter, and their beloved dog.