Life can be difficult. “Just try this” some will say. It might help, it might not. You would love if it were that easy. Sometimes, you just feel lost.
The buds will burst open.
A small gesture may begin to lift you out of darkness. A hug, a sunrise, the loving words of a loved one. You believe that there is hope and life.
The buds will burst open.
Soon, you pay more attention to the moments of light. You see how beautiful the world is, how God cares for you, and you desire to love deeply in response. Struggle is there, but it does not have the last word.
The buds will burst open.
You may not have felt God’s presence in the darkness, but God was there, all along. And now you can rejoice, because the buds have burst open. They always will.
—Chris Williams, S.J., a Jesuit scholastic of the Wisconsin province, is studying philosophy at Loyola University Chicago.