God's Love and New Beginnings

I love to see crocuses in the springtime. They are always among the first flowers to grace our lawns and gardens, and to me they are a sign of hope. Even when the ground is still rather cold--and sometimes still covered with snow--the crocuses dare to break through the hard earth and blossom. They let us know that another spring, another season of new growth and new beginnings, has arrived.

Crocuses make me think of the hope we have in and through Jesus Christ, which we have pondered anew throughout this Holy Week. As Father Cliff reminded us in his sermon on Palm Sunday, the primary message and meaning of this sacred time is God's love for us, as expressed in the passion, death,and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. God's love has triumphed over pain, brokenness, suffering, and death. Knowing and experiencing this in our own lives gives us the hope that sustains us in our ongoing journey with Christ.

As we conclude our Lenten meditations on forgiveness and reconciliation, it is helpful to remember that God's love makes possible the seemingly impossible. When we seek forgiveness from God or others, or when we seek the willingness to forgive those who have hurt us, let us have faith that forgiveness and reconciliation can, and will, happen through God's grace. Even when the damage may seem irreparable, God's love for us reminds us that it is not. God's love will break through our resistance, pain, and fear if we remain open to it. And like the crocuses that brave the cold, hard earth to bloom each year, we will have the courage to break new ground so that forgiveness and reconciliation can begin, and blossom into something new and beautiful.

There is a lovely hymn by John Crum, entitled "Now the Green Blade Rises",that I think expresses the wonder and beauty of Easter very well. The words are as follows:

"Now the green blade rises from the buried grain,
Wheat that in the dark earth many years has lain;
Love lives again, that with the dead has been:
Love is come again, like wheat that springs up green."

As we celebrate Christ's resurrection and continue our journey through the coming year, may we remain open to God's love for us in Jesus Christ, so that this divine love may "spring up green" in each of us as well.

-- Stephanie Stover