“He came also stille . . . As dewe in Aprille, That falleth on the flowr”

(Anonymous, 15th Century)

Stillness shouldn’t be hard to master, it is simply a pause in the ripple of time. Along the many roads traveled we find one similarity . . . each one experiences a halt in time for a moment of refreshment and reflection. Where are we going anyway? And in such a hurry.

I was recently brought to reflect on a compilation of Anonymous 15^th Century writers and in this collection, I fell upon the quotation above. It is not necessarily a poem about God as much as it is about love, but I couldn’t help putting both together as I read.

How does dew fall onto nature? Well we could imagine, in an abstract way, the similarity of Mary’s moment of Fiat when the Holy Spirit descended on her. It is a sight to behold and yet it is very much an invisible phenomenon. First, we see a density in the air and immediately pin point the mist that will later become the dew. Next, appear small droplets of water resting on leaves, grass, and every other visible surface creating the dew that magnifies the beauty of creation. In any case the dense mist, as important as it is, does not witness to its presence until it becomes the dew that we all marvel at in wonder

It forms during the stillness of the night, when we are most at rest, just as the Spirit appeared to Mary when her heart lay still in prayer, so too, the mist descends and consumes every bit of exposed nature. It really is a beautiful sight, it certainly is, specially as the sun rays strike the canvas of creation giving it a natural glow, magnifying the surfaces it rests on. So too after becoming the resting place of God, Mary is magnified in the Spirit.

The Spirit reflects the mist.

Our hearts supplement nature.

Pure Love reflects the dew formed on creation.

Grace. Brings together this divine encounter.

There is no encounter with grace without an open heart. Just as the dew cannot form on a surface that is not exposed. We desire grace and yet we hide from it. Just the same we seek the Spirit and yet we run in haste from it. We encounter stillness and yet we disturb its silence. It is a sacred moment when the heart is still, and the mist consumes its beating cry.

“He comes all so still” as does the dew at the dawn of April. He comes to rest in our heart as the dew on blossomed flowers. He unites in love to the soul who opens himself freely.

So, we stand still with hearts exposed. Hoping with delight to be claimed as a victim of love, consumed by the touch of grace and renewed in the light of day. The heart seeks to rest in the Spirit, it desires union with God, and all we are asked to do is remain still and allow him to come.

This grace is not reserved for the saints who bask in Beatitude. It’s for the sinner who reposes in the hope of love.