Wednesday, November 12, 2008

The Fallow Way

 

I'm just back from Delaware where many trees still have autumn leaves, stark constrast to here in the mountains, where trees are bare and weeds are brown and frost is taking over. As I walked this morning I was remembering Judy Collins' song, "The Fallow Way." Here are just a few stanzas:
I'll learn to love the fallow way
When winter draws the valley down
And stills the rivers in the storm
And freezes all the little brooks....

I'll learn to love the fallow way
And gather in the patient fruits
And after autumn's blaze and burn
I'll know the feel of still, deep roots....

The crystal times, the silence times
I'll learn to love their quiet breath
While deep beneath the glistening snow
The black earth dreams of violets
I'll learn to love the fallow time....

A field is left fallow when it is left unplanted, an opportunity for the soil to replenish itself. We can learn to love the fallow time when cold pulls us inside and winter draws us down into ourselves, deeper into the Divine.
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