Winter is really here today. Snow, ice, freezing rain. It is sometimes difficult to trust that underneath all of this coldness, life continues to beat with warmth and vitality deep below the surface.
I have been working for many years on behalf of youth who are called “first-time juvenile offenders”. These youth have committed the first criminal offense and are involved with the legal system. These youth can seem overwhelmed by this winter in their lives.
All of this time, I have been so grateful for the child and youth advocates and caregivers who continue to see through the frozen exteriors of these youth to the heart of the growth that is waiting to emerge. I have written a song to thank them.
As I sing this song in my mind, I am thinking of all of my Spurwink colleagues. Though the music carrying the lyrics is only in my mind, I offer the words to you on this wintry day.
YOU ARE THE REASON
Broken lives, severed ties,
A girl dying to find
Another way, just one day,
To plant her dreams in fertile ground.
Then you appear, and you hear,
The truth behind her fear–
Eyes that see, what she needs,
For her dreams to flourish here.
CHORUS:
Oh you—you are the reason,
The reason that hope can take root in her heart,
Because you, you know the reason
The crocus can bloom in the cold,
In the darkness.
Lost in shame, takes the blame
For a loss he can’t name–
Can’t find a way, not any day,
To dream of being more.
But you just know, how to grow
A tiny seedling of hope–
A love that shows, a mind that probes
Into the buried gifts he holds.
CHORUS:
Oh you—you are the reason,
The reason that hope can take root in her heart,
Because you, you know the reason
The crocus can bloom in the cold,
In the darkness.
BRIDGE:
And I know, yes I know
That the time has come to see
That we, and I mean WE,
Can be the gardeners of dreams—
The gardeners of dreams!
CHORUS:
I know that you –you are the reason,
The reason that hope can take root in the heart,
Because you, you know the reason
The crocus can bloom in the cold,
In the darkness.
by Susan Savell, MA, MDiv
Director, Center for Positive Youth Development
Spurwink