Blossoming and Withering

O trees of life, when does your winter come?
We're not in accord. Not attuned, like
the migrating birds. Overtaken and late,

we abruptly crowd ourselves on a wind

and come down on some uncaring pond.

We're conscious of blossoming and withering

both at once.

And somewhere lions rove, all unaware,

while still in their splendor, of any weakness.

-from "Die Vierte Elegie", Rainer Rilke

In Rilke's elegy, we are late. We are not like the birds who migrate at the right time every year, we learn things late. We are faulty, and end up at the wrong spot sometimes, well after the proper time. So we are left to feel the withering of the blossoms. Time after time. Leaving us cold and stranded by a dull lake unaware of our weakness. Yet it is when we are made aware of our weakness that we can change it.

How do we get to be late, and why did we miss the opportunity? Are we comfortable in our own complacency? Or do we talk ourselves out of the opportunity presented? Like Jonah, we lose track of what is truly important. Jonah was more concerned with seeing the wicked people of Nineveh get what they deserved (meaning God's wrath), while God was concerned with that generation of people. Jonah forgot what he really deserved as he maintained his "high and mighty" mentality, upset with God that He showed mercy to the people of Nineveh. Jonah saw the plant blossom to give him shade, then wither again as he got angry with God and His compassion. He lost sight of the big picture, as we all tend to do, and came into that understanding a bit late. I am so thankful that our God is compassionate and loving, even if we arrive late.