We use the black and white metaphor to talk about issues and decisions. There are some things that are easily seen as black or white, right or wrong. This doesn't always make a decision easy. It can be very hard to do the right thing sometimes. I pray for wisdom to know what is the right and wrong, black and white, in the decisions I make in life. I want to always follow Jesus, this is right but not always easy. I want to love others like he loved us. It isn't easy.
Even though there is no color in the picture, I still like it. We have days in our lives without color. They aren't easy but they are necessary. They help us grow - big and strong like this tree. It is winter now but spring is coming and then summer. I will go back and look at this tree and take pictures again this year to see how it changes in the seasons.
For Jesus the days of the Passion week must have been dark. The night he spent praying in the garden before his arrest must have been the darkest hour for him. It was an hour of deciding between black and white. He could have chosen not to go through with the cross but that night he accepted the Father's will. I will see this tree again with beautiful green leaves and clear blue skies - and one day I will see Jesus in full color too.