Just a Glimpse

It made the evening news, on that first truly warm day last week – a photo sent in by a resident of Naperville, showing a solitary, bright, blooming crocus that had sprung up through the ground. As it appeared on the screen, the newscasters sighed with appreciation, and it got my attention, too – something so beautiful, so tender, so full of promise, that had broken through the hard, dark earth.

We all knew that when this year’s spring finally came, we would notice it and savor it. We’ve been through so much snow and ice and cold this year –barriers to living life as fully as we would like, and an added difficulty to every day. We’ve been longing, for some time now, for a new season, for light and warmth, and glimpses of that wonderful strength of new life breaking through the cold, barren places.

Lent is a time for us to recognize the longing we have for Christ’s New Life in our lives, and to notice and share the signs of that new life as we discover them. It’s been such a gift to read our church Lenten Journey booklet, filled with glimpses, from the experiences of our own members, of that New Life tenderly, strongly, growing in our midst. Those reflections have helped me catch fresh glimpses of Christ’s presence in my life, and in our world.

During April, we’ll continue on our Lenten journey, with Sunday worship services, and special Maundy Thursday and Good Friday Services.Then, on April 24, we celebrate God’s answer to our longings -- Easter. We are honored to be having our Bishop, Hee-Soo Jung, as our preacher that day.

When I saw that solitary crocus during the news last week, a promise of what will be, I remembered the words of my favorite Easter hymn – a quiet little song tucked in among the more powerful melodies in our hymnal.

Now the green blade riseth, from the buried grain,
Wheat that in dark earth many days has lain;
Love lives again, that with the dead has been:
Love is come again, like wheat that springeth green....
When our hearts are wintry, grieving, or in pain,
Jesus’ touch can call us back to life again,
Fields of our heart that dead and bare have been:
Love is come again, like wheat that springeth green.