Pastor’s Ponderings for April 2011
23 Mar 2011 Leave a Comment
As I write this there are several chickadees on the feeder, a squirrel on the corn, and deer in the back lawn. The sun is shining; Jafar and I are enjoying breakfast. He runs to the window – looks out – and runs back to his food. It is a perfect morning.
I am so very ready for spring. This winter has been looooooooooong and messy. My feet froze, my attitude tanked, and – well – it is time for a change.
The first change spring brings, however, is also messy. Leaves we missed last year are now a lumpy covering for bulb plants trying to break into the sunlight. I pull the barrier apart and find yellow shoots. These will turn green soon, assuming we do not have any more really harsh weather. The drive is pitted and muddy. There is a big hole at the end where we pull onto the pavement. At the sides of this hole are two big piles of dirt encrusted ice. The mailbox is loose. Several weeks ago the shed collapsed under the weight of the snow and will need to be dismantled and discarded. There is just so much that needs doing.
It seems to me that all of this, somehow, creates a sense of the transition from Lent into Easter. Lent settles in and we do as the season requires. We become introspective. We pray a bit more. Sometimes we fast; sometimes we make and keep resolutions. After a week or two, however, Lent can become habitual. Like a cold, long winter it requires certain practices and accommodations. We have done it all before. We will do it all again. Lent ceases to be truly special; it becomes another season to be experienced/endured. We may feel guilt over our distraction. Mostly we feel overwhelmed.
Then the sun breaks through. We feel the warmer breeze of spring and even lent is somehow transformed. Easter feels possible. Resurrection involves not just God; resurrection begins to involve all of us. Our spirits begin to push through the barriers and face the light. Lenten devotions begin to feel new; we begin to feel new as well. Somehow things begin to make sense again.
Easter renews our faith as well as our hope. With the first light of Easter dawn many of us become children again. We remember how exciting the holiday was at age 9; we feel a touch of the same anticipation. The term Alleluia is discovered to have new meaning. We are renewed.
When I was a child, Easter meant new, shiny shoes and a pretty hat. We all had something new to wear. As we walked to the church we greeted neighbors and friends. We skipped and laughed. Even an early, cold Easter could not mar the sense of happy and fun. I remember feeling like I was part of something much, much larger than myself, my family, or even my church.
Forget the bunnies; forget the eggs and jelly beans. Yes, they are fun, but Easter represents so much more than candy and cute, furry critters. The experience of Easter resurrects and renews our interconnection and our interdependence in all of the best ways. Through friendship, memory, perseverance and prayer we leap up from self-imposed graves and move into the warmth of a new season.
