Seasonal War

Posted byGary FultzPosted inabundant life, adventure, Build Faith, cold, deadly spiritual perspective, deception, devotional, devotional thoughts, Easter, eternal, Faith, Gary Fultz, GaryFultz Blog, God in Nature, Jesus Christ, Know God, Migration, Nature, nature pictures, outdoor adventure, outdoor scenery, outdoor spiritual truths, perspective, Photography, picture truths, snow, solitude, spiritual adventure, spiritual concepts, spiritual deception, Spiritual Perspective, spring, Swans, victorious living, walk with God, winterTags:, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Most of our snow is melted. Lakes are still frozen. The apple, birch and maple buds are bulging. Maple trees are starting to be tapped for the second time. It’s spring on the Calendar. Winter will still say “not so fast bucko” and storm away a couple more snowfalls (weather app proves me right…yep don’t go there).

Meanwhile, most things look dead. A walk in the woods confirmed that I would not get much for exciting spring photo shots, but there’s hope. Hey, people like hope. We were created with hope downloaded for all that wars the mind, soul and body.

I took a few shots of the dead, dying and hope. just click to enlarge and scroll.

I don’t know why some maples grow with black and white bark. I wonder why the trumpeter swans come north to lakes with solid ice. I don’t know how totally hollow ash trees can still be alive and thrive for decades or why some grass stays green all winter. I look at a spring sunrise glowing through the balsam boughs and see that the ice puddles have lost their water underneath to soak into the ground. I know that spring is coming. It’s a “sure hope” based on little evidences everywhere. Even if it snows again and again, it will melt, and the maple sap will run, and the buds will bloom or leaf out. I know.

The trumpeter swans know that the ice one night will turn into a liquid by morning. The deer will drop their fawns soon, the leaf growth will turn the woods green and the forest floor will grow green and turn all autumn leftovers into humus. Every year the war is fought and won by spring. Winter can only beat fall.

Every spring I take my walks into this seeming dead zone and think of the template of our physical and spiritual struggles. Natures template with sure outcomes. God’s Easter template with a sure outcome. I would love to bring you along sometime. These kinds of discussions work well around the campfire or just over coffee.

The Easter war. The death. The resurrection. A sure victory. The deception war over Jesus resurrection, Still raging. Like where I live in the Northwoods, winter and spring still raging. Spring wins. God wins, a sure hope. I know.

Gary

Afterthought: I cannot take a picture of God, neither can I take a picture of wind. Then again…maybe I have.

Published by Gary Fultz

Outdoors Man, Hunter, Fisherman, Guide, Writer / Author, Photographer, Public Speaker, Musician, Song Writer, Story Teller, Follower Of Jesus. Love God and family and total strangers

58 thoughts on “Seasonal War”

  2. Great thoughts and wonderful photos Gary. I especially love the sunrise (or sunset) through the trees. I also love your transition to the hope of Christ’s Resurrection. Yes, Spring always wins, even when it snows on Easter! No stone was heavy enough, no nails sharp enough, no grave clothes strong enough to keep Jesus in the tomb.

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  6. Thank you Gary. I appreciate your photos and thoughts. Your post is saturated with spiritual allegories. For example, grass that stays green all winter is as the always hope that never dies regardless of otherwise obvious circumstances saying all is hopeless, dead, and frozen over.

    Accordingly, every season is both a winner and a loser. Every season defeats the prior one and loses to the next one. Apparently, there are spiritual seasons also. Spiritually, those who choose to put their full faith, confidence, and hope in the Lord Jesus as their Savior are as Spring (new birth, born again, resurrection to new life) defeating Winter (spiritual death due to personal sin). I guess those without such saving faith pass directly from Winter to Summer. The term Endless Summer comes to mind. Seasonal War indeed.

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    1. So true RJ.. Nature is so full of continuous living breathing allegories and layers of depth to those allegories. Right now I am in awe of the suns power the moment it hits a dead leaf laying on the snow. The snow reflects the suns power but the leaf heats up and sinks into the snow. Oh the power of the sun…Son

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  7. I hear and feel your heart and soul in these pictures of the unfathomable wonders of God’s Springtime creation you’ve beautifully set to words Gary. Thanks for this blessing.

    “Spring wins. God wins, a sure hope. I know.” . . . as do I brother. Thank you Jesus!

    Keep Looking Up ^ . . . His Best is Yet to Come!

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      1. Amen brother! Looking forward to exploring the wonders of His endless Eternity with you Gary.

        Keep Looking Up ^ . . . His Best is Yet to Come!

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  8. A great post Gary. I love your winter pictures that call for hope! Down on this lattitude the days are warm and the dogwoods and azaleas are starting to bloom. Keep the faith, Spring will soon come your way as well!

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    1. Thanks Dwight. I do get a little jealous when I see your spring pictures. It’s coming here. Im spending the next two days getting ready for 5-8 inches of snow first…maybe weather app is wrong I keep telling myself. Tractor and tiller is ready for the garden and the skid steer and snow blower is on standby…

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  9. Love the analogy. It’s a good reminder to focus on Hope, not on the ice and snow. And I agree with your deep conversations thought. There’s just something about staring at a campfire that brings out the best conversations.

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    1. I knew you were a “campfire person” Jennifer. Yes, we do much better by the fire than facing a screen. You do so well with your books. I’m thinking I might need a notebook and pen by the fire to put thoughts longer than a couple pages of blog together.

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  10. Beautifully written, and I love your photos! I went for a hike this weekend, and I began to appreciate the subtle colors just as I was thinking all was still drab. “Every spring I take my walks into this seeming dead zone and think of the template of our physical and spiritual struggles. Natures template with sure outcomes. God’s Easter template with a sure outcome.” Amen. Thank you, Gary.

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    1. It is amazing what one can see on a hike Karen, especially with your observation powers. I think that’s a “super-power”. I have noticed that the slower I go, the more I see. My best “seeing” is after a freezing rain in below freezing temps. The footing in the woods is very slippery. Very slow going. one notices everything. Aside from the fact that it would be easy to “become one” with nature by falling wrong where no one would ever find me, I do love seeing all those little evidences of God’s Easter template.

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  12. Gary, I believe you have taken beautiful pictures of God! Romans 1:20, “For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.”

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    1. Yep, Spring always wins. I think you are about 3 weeks ahead of us Robert. Where you live is just enough south to experience those blooms and yet you can still get a good snowstorm from our way. Yours melts right away though.

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  14. Hope, always hope. And trust that Spring will come and God always does win. I live a good bit south of you, but it’s still been dead-looking here too. Lo and behold though just the other day some spring flowers began poking their green heads up through the brown soil. Hooray! Our great God still gives us miracles in the everyday world.

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    1. I always look forward to those moments when brand new living plants poke out of the ground. By the very next day there has been so much growth…it’s a great feeling for me. I do like the word “hooray!”

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  15. The dead and dying of nature nurture the newborn and living of God’s new creations. Your images of winter are just as beautiful as the ones form more colorful seasons. You told winter’s story as it heralds in spring and it was wonderful. Thanks, Gary. 🙂

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    1. Thanks Nancy. The miracle of the newborn (plant, animal, human) is so physical and yet so spiritual. It’s where symbolism comes to life. Where the mortal becomes immortal. Ya, I get carried away in my thoughts sometimes

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    1. Mud and brown here Matt. It will green up when the frost goes out of the ground. We get anywhere from 3-8 feet of frost in the ground. This gives the worms and nightcrawlers fits. The mosquitoes will show up when it reaches 50 degrees, although in the fall the stay out until it’s 31 degrees and they fall out of the air freezing up.

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    1. thanks Alicia. I can’t help but constantly blend what I see in nature with what God has told us about himself and his ways. And it ends up being consistently eye opening as long as God’s word is the standard and not nature….mankind’s nature is dyslexic and gets it backwards often.

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    1. thanks…spring made it back here after a foot of snow melted. Winter trying to visit tonight with rain turning to snow. Gotta love the quick changes back and forth and be ready for anything. I never know what I’m going to get traveling through Illinois during winter-spring…you people get some serious icy roads sometimes.

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  25. Thank for the great pictures, Gary. The constant transitioning of creation never ceases to be fascinating. No two days are alike. Our God is endlessly creative within His creation. Like He is within His true children.

    Always good to read and see your work. Happy resurrection day!

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    1. Thanks Tim. Yes, it was a good day to celebrate Resurrection day. Slapped my first mosquitoes today…spring is here. I cannot imagine such a small wispy insect being frozen for 6 months under the snow and one day waking and flying around for possibly days without eating anything. E en those pesky little demon bugs are intricately designed.

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