the stuff of which faith is made

April 3, 2018

Beloved:
   
    Yesterday morning we woke to snow, in the trees and on the ground, while this morning’s thunder had both dogs and me wide awake at 4:27 AM.  I made coffee and did some laundry, since there’s always laundry to be done.  We all three settled on the couch and read for a sermon before another little nap.  It’s only ten AM, and the work day feels half gone. ​

    Snow clings here and there.  Severe thunderstorms are forecast for this afternoon.  Yet behind, beside, and pushing up from beneath it all, I can see and smell and feel the spring refusing to be held back.  This is her time and she will come, whatever winter has left to do.  The daffodils are blooming.  Tulip blades are lush, and the strawberry plants are now through the ground.  Lilac and blackberry bushes are budding.  But best of all are the winter roses (hellebores) I uncovered Saturday.  They are my earliest flowers, in full bloom long before the daffodils, but always with their necks bent, faces to the ground like shy girls at a dance.  My front bed is their Mount Everest.  They need late winter’s harshness and do not thrive on a table in a vase.

      I fancy the faith it takes to leave the darkness below the ground and push up through ice and snow.  To know such courage is the stuff of which our faith in God is made; to stand when the world would have us buckle and break; to bend and wait; to draw strength from air and light and beauty of this precious, perfect day.  Whatever else it brings, the spring is also here and with it another day of life with each other and with God who loves us so.

~ peace & prayers,
pastor annette