The view out of my study window is not, as a writer, what one would necessarily hope for. There is a beautiful Sweetgum tree in my front yard that is almost perfectly centered in this window. Beyond, where when we moved here there was only pasture land, I have a view between two houses. My house is slightly elevated so past this the roof lines drop away and Mount Doom rises in the distance.

Until last week Mount Doom was obscured by a beautiful, large oak tree. My cross-the-street neighbor (the one I don’t know on the left – I know the family on the right) decided to remove it and the majority of other landscaping in his yard. I can only assume he plans to replant or he has lost his mind. However, for now the summit of the mount sits starkly against the sky.

Mount Doom did not exist when I purchased my home. In fact before the pasture land out my front window was consumed by homes I had a very nice open view of the distance horizon. No, Mount Doom is a recent arrival. We call it Mount Doom, because in the dead of summer you can smell the fires of Mordor burning and the foul stench of evil wafts on the summer breeze.

Fortunately, Mount Doom is some miles away from my home. Thus, I am not overly fearful of what might issue forth from its festering bowels. Furthermore, its evil growth has not (as yet) had an impact upon my property values. You see, Mount Doom is a local land fill that was not on any development plans I saw twenty six years ago when we bought our home.

As I sit here on the afternoon of Easter contemplating what might be forming deep within its decomposing heart I notice something. Green is creeping up the hillside and only the area near the top where earth movers are still regularly at work is the dark brown of open earth.

Luckily, being that it is now within a more residential area they do not allow garbage to be openly visible. Only the odor of it is noticeable once in a while where I live. However, I do feel for the people with homes far nearer than mine.

Considering the import of this day to the Christian faith, seeing the green growth upon this newly minted hill and considering we are in the midst of spring time, renewal comes quickly to mind.

Extending this thought to where I am personally right now in life and I cannot miss the message I believe God had intended for me this afternoon. You may scoff at my connection of these things, especially in light of a land fill, but the imagery hit me hard.

If we are not in a state of renewal we in a state of decay.

How can this imagery not come strongly to mind knowing what lies beneath Mount Doom? Decades from now when the site has reached its inevitable maximum capacity and Mother Nature is allowed to fully take over it will be indistinguishable from the surrounding landscape.

If you have seen places where we have abandoned man-made structures, nature takes over very quickly. This renewal comes upon the decay and destruction we have left behind. Those areas where renewal cannot take hold become barren and ultimately end up as desert.

Much is the same with our lives; if we do not allow for, look for renewal then decay can take over and whether mental, spiritual or physically we fall into decay, we become desert.

I, personally, believe that mental and physical renewal cannot take place without spiritual renewal – if the heart and soul is not in it, how can it happen?

While my belief system allows me to seek God for spiritual renewal, I too know that I must have faith for this to work. Therefore, I believe whether or not your belief system seeks God to assist the heart and soul for renewal it must seek a higher power. We must strive for something bigger than ourselves; reach beyond and have faith that what we are reaching for will happen. Growth will occur.

You may call this hope, or hopefulness, or vision. It is seeing the green of spring burst forth and know that the Earth is in renewal and breathe it into yourself. To dust off the final crystals of winters ice and stand full within the sunshine and warm your soul opening the mind to new beginnings and endless possibilities.

This is a time of renewal. Allow it to reach into your soul and bring forth the new blooms of the next great thing.