Viriditas.
Unless you’re a Latin scholar, you probably don’t know the word Viriditas, yet it has a rich history among the monastics. It means “greening,” as in the greening of the soul. And in the timely light of Springtime, it reflects an inner dimension of what we are seeing come to life all around us: splashy blooms and lime-green buds and unfurling leaves and lazy bees and warming breezes. The stark textures of winter’s dormancy give way to the vivaciousness of greening. This is viriditas at its best.
It was Saint Hildegard of Bingen (1098–1179) who first used this term to describe the soul that awakens with as much quiet drama and hopeful consolation as the first purple flash of the crocus. Do you see any fresh peeks of color in your soul this season?
Something is wanting to come to life in you right now. Do you know what it is?
Spring is my favorite season of the year. It used to be Fall, when the stultifying heat of the North Carolina sandhills gave way to crisp air and arboreal color. Now that I live in the mountains, there’s something magical about the way that the hard, frozen ground yields to the green shoot of life as the sun broadens its arc and birdsong awakens.
Nature mirrors spirituality. Or perhaps it’s spirituality that mimics nature. Of course it’s all natural and it’s all spiritual because the divine encompasses all creation, visible and invisible. This was exactly the mystery that Hildegard championed in her role as a German Benedictine abbess. She sang, “O Holy Spirit, . . . you are the mighty way in which every thing that is in the heavens, on the earth, and under the earth, is penetrated with connectedness, is penetrated with relatedness.” What a revelation.
This is nothing less than the shape of Reality, the shape of the Trinity. God is Relationship itself, weaving the divine tapestry within itself and among all things. “In him we live and move and have our being,” Paul quoted from the philosopher Epimenides in his appeal to the Athenians. Paul noticed that God even sows truth in other cultural, religious, and philosophical soil than his own. Nothing can contain the vastness and goodness of God; not even Christianity. God will always be bigger than the small gardens of our understanding.
Paul’s words planted some seeds in Athens that “greened” immediately. So let me ask again, What is wanting to come to life in you right now? What is breaking out of the barren ground with hope and possibility?
Whatever we’re noticing that feels like a bud of new life calls us to action: the action of watering. In relation to the church at Corinth, Paul says, “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.” As we well know, we can’t make ourselves grow. We can’t squeeze fruitfulness out of our lives. But we can certainly water the new growth with confidence that the Vinetender will indeed draw forth beauty in us.
growing the soul
Take a moment now and name what is greening in your life. Attach a word to it. Talk to God about it. Now, what will it look like for you to water that new bud?
serving the world
Especially in a time when the world feels dark and dangerous, it’s vital for us to keep our eyes peeled for growth and goodness. Where do you see mercy and kindness at work? Name that too! And water it with your prayers and expectation.
takeaway
Go green.