“If I keep a green bough in my heart, then the singing bird will come.”

– Chinese Proverb

Sometimes sadness and sorrow creep into our lives.  None of us is immune to this experience.  When we find ourselves in a desolate place, it is easy to lose heart and to think that we never will feel better again — that joy has left us and never will return.  On sunny, light-hearted days, it is easy to dance through the world.  When we walk in the shadows, our feet seem to drag and we no longer remember the dance of happy times.

I love to watch the sun rise.  I know that daylight would come whether I stare toward the eastern horizon or not.  I have no magical power that calls the sun to appear at daybreak.  And yet I am drawn to my favorite sunrise place again and again.  There is something profoundly uplifting for me when the light of dawn replaces the dark of night; and I think I know what that is.

Hope.  Each day, as the sky is set on fire by the sunrise, I see with my own eyes that the Light is something to be trusted.  Whether or not I choose to notice its return, I trust that the dark night will not last forever.  When I take in the light of a promise fulfilled, it nurtures the growth of beautiful things in the garden of my heart.

On days when we feel sad and hurt and overwhelmed by life’s difficulties, when we cannot hear the birds sing or feel the joy at hearing their song, we must let hope shine its healing light into the garden of our hearts.  We must trust that the silent birds will one day sing again.  We must let a green bough flourish within us so that they will have a place to perch when they return.