In some traditions, dew is celebrated in poetry and prayer as a bringer of life. Dew that accumulates during the night surrounds plant leaves every morning for approximately two to three hours past sunrise. In the early morning, the time of day when plants grow, the droplets of dew surrounds the leaves of a plant with moisture. The plant does not close its pores, so it receives the life-giving moisture that makes it grow.
I have contemplated that thought today in thinking about my own growth, about morning and night, light and darkness. All of us experience times of darkness, nights of emptiness when even the stars seem to give no light. A life faces those dark times in illness, aging, the loss of a loved one, financial problems, a difficult relationship, a fatal diagnosis.
Indeed, we live through those kinds of dark times. But our Christian faith assures us that after the night, the morning comes — every day, without fail. The miracle is that many people claim that when darkness falls on their lives, they experience growth.
I can attest to the fact that it truly is in the darkness where my soul and spirit has grown and matured. Without a doubt, it was a painful growing time, a testing time, but a time that made me stronger and more resilient.
So I find comfort in the thought that after dark nights, morning comes, and with the morning, the refreshing and healing dew. Like tender plants that open their pores to drink life-giving dew that falls gently on them, we can open ourselves to the soft touch of the “dew in the morning.” That is a gift to us, a grace-gift that we receive from a loving and caring God who knows that we hurt, but also knows that we survive and grow.
The dew in the morning just might bring us comfort after a long darkness, bringing life, healing, refreshment, growth, and new beginnings.
God of the Sparrow 🌱 By Kathy Manis Findley 