Spring
There is no doubt that spring has arrived. Such a strange and unpredictable season. I agree with Meg Ryan's character in IQ who said: "Everything goes through upheaval in the spring." This is a true statement.
Spring is messy and muddy. The snow melts and leaves you with the remains of dormant fall. It takes some time to work through the transition. For the longest time you're not sure what to wear (who knows when the sky might dump water on your unsuspecting high heels!)
We're getting ready to embark upon the Easter season. As much as I'm looking forward to the new season (both spring and Easter) I know I'm going to miss winter and Lent. I've loved the dormancy and chill of winter, the harsh beauty of the snow and even the whipping wind that forced me to wear earmuffs every time I left a building. I'm going to miss the concentrated focus of Lent, the emphasis on everything I need to learn, the solemnity of bright sadness.
If you've been reading this blog for any time at all, you'll know that this year is about transitions for me. So much is changing and growing and happening.
Last spring, there was this verse that really stuck out to me, shared by a friend. All year, it's been in my head, written on my journal, even making it's way into my facebook statuses every now and then: Isaiah 43:18-19
"Do not call to mind the former things, or ponder things of the past. Behold, I will do something new, now it will spring forth; will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, rivers in the desert."
This verse came up again this last week in church. We have four lessons each week, one from the Old Testament, a Psalm, one from the New Testament and one from the Gospels.
Guess what the Old Testament lesson was this last week? Yes, that's right. This section of Scripture is just here in the midst of the liturgical year (year c, to be exact).
I love how alive and active Scripture is. I love that I can read a verse and have it speak right to where I am, and that I can do it again a year later. (Maybe next year too?)
So don't forget that you have to watch out for spring. Now it will spring forth. You never know what might happen.