As I looked longingly at the rows of pansies at the local garden center yesterday, even picking up a pot, I suddenly remembered that we had not even crossed the threshold of St. Patrick’s Day, when the weather is always blustery. Checking the ten day forecast that always seems to change every day – we are in New Jersey, after all – sure enough blustery, rainy and that late winter slush called snow.
It isn’t spring yet although it felt like that for the last few days. We still need to wait for the moment when the vernal equinox occurs – Saturday, March 20 at 5: 37 AM. The problem with late winter is that it can easily freeze hope even though the snow is slush.
It’s a week away but we should start opening our lives to hope, for there is much to hope for. The vaccine supply will soon be sufficient, but do we have enough people who can innoculate us? The retired nurses and physician’s assistants as well as others trained must rise from their hibernation as a bear in the spring. Then hope becomes concrete, like the reality of the bulbs we see.
Prayer for the Day
Abiding God, grant us your presence on this day
As we seek to serve you in this world;
Move us from our gray tinted spectacles,
Into the multi-colored world of your kingdom.
Open our eyes beyond what we see with our eyes
And our minds into a deeper knowledge of you.
In the name of him who opens the world to us,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
You can cut all the flowers but you cannot keep spring from coming.
Pablo Neruda, Chilean poet (1904-1973)
Autumn arrives in early morning, but spring at the close of a winter day.
Elizabeth Bowen, Anglo-American writer (1899-1973)
Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness;
Come into God’s presence with singing.
Know that the Lord is God. It is God who has made us;
We are God’s people and the sheep of God’s pasture.
Psalm 100: 1-2