It’s March. You may not be able to feel it now, but you can almost see Spring from here. Way off on the horizon, blasts of heat, daffodils, tree buds and green grass are waiting. Nasty old February is gone, April is in sight. If we can survive two or three more winter storms marching across the plains, the reward will be worth it.
Today, (Thursday) is another snow day. The weather forecasters gave us the hour the snow would start and the hour it would end. This time they undershot the volume of snow a bit, but they’re getting closer all the time. The difference between this one and the last snow storm is the wind. This time, when the snow stopped, the wind kept going. Now if we can just get through a Saturday night without a blizzard, we’ll be O.K..
March and Lent are about hope; hope for a future we can’t see, but we know is there. Most of us live into the future we’ve dreamed. When our future is darkened, it effects how we live now.
After Easter, the disciples scattered. Then something made them come back and gather together and become a group of folks who helped each other live as Jesus lived. It was so powerful, it overpowered their grief and made them return to the dangerous place where he’d been killed. Even though they yearned for him to still be there like he was before, they felt his presence when they served the poor, healed the sick, fed the hungry, clothed the naked. They found that when they did what he had done, he was there with them. Even though he had died, Jesus lived on through them.
At Easter, we remember and celebrate the hope that brought those disciples back. In Lent, we remember how we too are scattered. In Lent we help each other prepare for the spirit to bring us back and make Jesus alive to us once more. As we serve the poor, heal the sick, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, the resurrected Christ lives in us and us in him. Easter is coming.
Grace & Peace.
