Bikes, Blossoms and Butterflies (04/11/2024)

This week spring surprised me with sights I’ve been waiting for such a long time to see: bikers, blossoms, and butterflies. The motorcycles are out, buzzing around. The trees that bloom in the spring are full of blossoms and buds. And as I sat outside around noon on my porch, enjoying the beautiful day, I saw my first butterflies (they could have been moths, but I choose to call them butterflies). I know that spring officially arrived three weeks ago, but the snow and sleet and wind didn’t support the calendar data. But in the last few days, things started to pop. Yep, it’s officially spring in my book.

And every spring, when it arrives, not necessarily on the day the calendars tell me it arrives, but on the day I see the visible signs of bikes, blossoms and butterflies, I celebrate. I go outside, sit and thank the LORD for the gift of Spring. It is a new chance, another chance.

As a Christian, I wish it weren’t needed, but how I love the new chances. Our faith focuses on the perfection that is possible through love lived always and everywhere, and yet we acknowledge at the same time the need for mercy and forgiveness. The Prodigal Son is one of our favorite parables from Jesus because most of us can associate with the younger son who frittered away the goodness given him. But the father gave him another chance.

We undertake our journey in faith full of hope. We seek to love the LORD and ourselves and one another moment to moment, but we don’t always succeed. But we have Jesus’ parable of the Prodigal Son and we have the image of Jesus upon the cross. At the heart of both is the merciful Father.

Spring is here. Easter is still fresh in our minds and hopefully has tenderized our hearts. How will we use this chance? What will we make of it? Will this spring see a rebirth of our zeal for our LORD’s desire that we love one another? Will this spring bring us to our knees in humility and gratitude as we witness with awe the wonders of creation as they awaken from their winter rest and pop? Will we find new energy and take the time to do the good we said we would, the good we want to do? Will we seek to reconcile with others and heal our relationships so that we can accompany one another better rather than avoid one another?

Spring is here – a gift of new life and new hope with nature mirroring the wonder of Easter.

While we’ve put away our fasting and our Lenten resolutions, let us not put away the progress we have made through our journey with our LORD. Let us recall that it our LORD who promises, “Behold, I make all things new.” It is the LORD’s love and mercy that makes it possible, that can bring life to any moment.

Until tomorrow, let us all love well.