Waking (Bright Year: Day 48)

We figured it never arrived. Christmas was near and the postal service was stretched thin, so we gave up on the package. In our painfully lucid minds, it was yet one more sacrifice to the devouring monster that was last year.

It turns out the wind had taken it, driven it a hundred feet east, whipped it around our shed, buried it in snow. The package awoke in a bed of flowers.

"When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream" (Psa 126:1, NRS). Resurrection is the realest thing, you know. But it has this curious somnolescent effect. When restoration comes, you rub your eyes and try to accustom yourself to the actual.

[This post is part of Bright Year, a series devoted to how the Easter light shines on every day of the calendar. For other posts in the series, see sevensided.org/bright-year]