Dark Moments in Lilting Melody

Sun's up, uh huh, looks okay
The world survives into another day
And I'm thinking about eternity
Some kind of ecstasy got a hold on me
I had another dream about lions at the door
They weren't half as frightening as they were before
But I'm thinking about eternity
Some kind of ecstasy got a hold on me . . . . .

April 8, 2025
Beloved:     
          The weather shift had "Sun’s up . . . looks okay" running through my head which made me need to find the rest of the lyrics again and as soon as I saw them I remembered them all.  From an album I listened to all the time decades ago, and could have been written for these days. 
          The sun is up for the second day in a row, thank goodness, because if the ground doesn’t dry out soon, we’re going to need some goats to cut this grass.  The yard behind the church is more duck pond than lawn.  The baby irises I planted a year ago apparently love it, as they are already bigger than they got all last season.  Everything is just so alive in the springtime, if only I have the eyes to see it and the stillness to pay attention.  I’m not always good at lifting my eyes from the news of the world to the reality of the springtime before my very senses.  I’m awfully good at dark thoughts or moods in the sweetest of moments.   Why read the news when the  sunshine begs out the door?  
          Maybe that’s why the old lyrics nagged me this morning, a poem in which dark moments ~ young men marching, helmets shining in the sun . . . Polished as precise like the brain behind the gun ~ are embedded in a lilting melody always driving toward the words eternity and ecstasy.  If I am fearful of things I cannot change - if I refuse to be nourished, comforted and encouraged by the truth I claim in my faith and experience in the light and air just outside my door ~ that’s on me.  God knows it is not easy ~ on days the rain seems it will never end, and sometimes on perfect days like today.  But not easy can be sung in a gentle voice, calling us a step or two outdoors, maybe for just a look around the yard to see what’s changed lately, to discover how very loved we are to be so blessed with a gift as lovely as springtime.
 
~ peace & prayers,
pastor annette
    
Listen to the song ~ Wondering Where The Lions Are