In My Garden

I spent some time outdoors today.  Call it getting my feet wet and my hands dirty, figuratively speaking.  There was lots of sun and just enough wind to keep me from getting too warm.  In other words, it was gorgeous.

We have been in that ugly time between snow melt and greening.  The grass is still brown from being under the snow all winter and the trees are still standing stark against sky.  But it’s not all ugly.  New green shoots are pushing up out of the ground and crocuses are already blooming, their delicate little flowers opening in the light of morning and closing as the sun sets in the evening.  Iris are pushing their knife blades up out of the soil. The daffodils are showing new flower heads tightly furled, tulips are opening up their dark green leaves, and you can see the little pineapple-like hyacinth slowly emerging.  Everywhere you look there are the signs of new life  resurrecting from the death of winter.

Do you suppose God planned that His Son should die for our sins and rise up during the time that His creation is also rising from the death of winter?  Every spring we can once again see the promise of new life in nature and be reminded of the new life that Jesus gave us by dying for us.  And even as nature is renewed and given new life, so we have that promise as well.  No matter how “dead” my relationship with God may have been, I have the promise that once again I can experience that new life and awakening after a spiritual winter.