In just a few hours, specifically at 10:46 AM our time, the vernal equinox will occur, that moment when we in the Northern Hemisphere will have spring. But spring is not an instant, but a process. There will continue to be colder days than today, blustery and rainy, days when we will ask ourselves, “Is spring really here?”
As tempted we will be to put away winter woolens, there will be days when we need them. The coming of spring is a bit like our journey through Lent, which begins in the dark of winter. Although Lent holds a promise, there are days when we felt darkness more than the coming light. Our journey of faith in Lent holds the promise that the light will come.
The light we hope for is different than the increasing light of the morning, for the light of faith takes work, often reflected in our struggles with doubt. We usually don’t think of doubt as essential to faith, but it is. There are times we despair and struggle in our faith journey. We want certainty, but faith is not certainty. There are no simple answers to many of our questions, so we continue our journey with hope that we will see a glimmer of the light to come.
Prayer for the Day
Your wall of hope surrounds us in our despair, O God,
Moving us from unbelief to faith.
Your citadel of love protects us from our fears,
Freeing us from our self-preoccupation.
Your arms welcome us and embrace us, Holy One,
Holding us in your everlasting love.
We come to you in the name of him who is love,
Even Christ Jesus, our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
It is not as a child that I believe and confess Jesus Christ. My hosanna is born of a furnace of doubt.
Fyodor Dostoevsky, Russian novelist (1821-1881)
Faith does not eliminate questions, but faith knows where to take them.
Elizabeth Eliot, writer
I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother.
Psalm 131:2