Without question, it was risky.

But trees do not seem to weigh risk. They celebrate life whenever the opportunity presents itself.

This pic is from the Silver Maple I see from my prayer room. The branch has grown to the point where it almost touches my window. (Yes, this is the same Silver Maple I wrote about in Anonymous: Jesus’ Hidden Years and Yours.) What you see via my retro low-density phone camera are leaf buds shaking in the wind. They are a gorgeous rust color with rich, coral hues.

What is the Silver Maple teaching me on this cloudy February day in the Missouri Ozarks? To never be afraid. To always risk blooming whatever the weather. To celebrate this moment without letting the future intimate me. To live and live abundantly.

And tonight…these buds will freeze as snow visits us once again. I am not a certified tree-ologist but in the past when the buds have frozen, they have eventually fallen, and the Silver Maple starts all over again.

Worse things could happen.

What I love about my mentor today is that it refuses to wait for a “perfect” time to bud.

The Silver Maple is not calculating to ensure the best chances statistically of survival or success. A wee bit of warmer weather is more than enough of an invitation to risk it all to celebrate life.

So perhaps the deepest lessons today from the Silver Maple are these:

being present is more important than being perfect

and

starting all over again is a better fate than fearing starting at all.

Which reminds me of Day 14 in 40 Days of Decrease:

Even though Jesus knew that the people would soon reject Him, Jesus still showed up for the parade they held in His honor. Jesus did not let the rejection of tomorrow cause Him to reject the love of today. (p. 66-67)

After all, life and love are worth the risk.