The summer has passed; the harvest is in, The fields lie fallow and cold. The sun shines not on the frozen ground While the winter tightens its hold.

Bleak and desolate, the landscape lies, Prisoner to this season of death. Signs of life are few and fleeting And the world seems to hold its breath.

But onto this scene of desolation, breaks Forth a harbinger of spring. The plucky robin with breast of red, His song, he begins to sing:

Arise, O world, wake up, O land. It’s time to renew the earth. For the sun returns with the early rains To herald in new birth.

The farmer comes with horse and plough His furrows soon to turn. The cold, damp earth and the seed he sows For the warmth of the sun, will

O come, dear Jesus, come and bring Your plough into my heart. Break up this ground so cold and hard And grant me a new start.

Purge me, O Lord with holy fire, Cleanse me with heavenly rain, Restore in me a steadfast heart That I may walk with Thee again.

Conrad J. Beattie 15 November 1996