Songbird writes...
My beloved speaks and says to me: “Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away; for now the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. The fig tree puts forth its figs, and the vines are in blossom; they give forth fragrance. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away. Song of Solomon 2:10-13
In the late, late winter, as the snow begins to recede here in Maine, we begin to look almost desperately for signs of spring, signs of hope that the weather has turned and a new day is on the horizon. For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, Easter and Spring twine inextricably, the crocuses and daffodils peeking through the Earth as we await the risen Christ.
Share with us five signs of hope that you can see today or have experienced in the past.
1. The lengthening of the days is a sign of hope for me. Sunlight is a sign of hope for me. I can easily wake and make my way around in morning darkness, but evenings that bid farewell to sunlight even before we eat dinner are draining for me. We had a sign of hope this week as we could walk the dogs and watch the sunset well past 7:30 pm.
2. The pink buds forming on the branches of our dogwood trees and and the green tips of crocuses pushing through the soil are a delightful sign of hope for me.
3. Personally, fitting into a smaller size pant this week was a very hopeful sign for me!
4. Visiting with a member whose husband of 59 years died a week ago, I was gifted with a sign of hope through the healing tears we shed and the comfort she found as we prayed the Lord's Prayer together.
5. And perhaps the most beautiful sign of hope these past few weeks has been the children whom we now welcome to the Lord's Supper at whatever age their parents feel they are ready. The sight of preschoolers reaching for the bread and being guided by their parents to the cup gives me hope for the faith journey of this new generation of God's sons and daughters!
9 comments:
These are lovely. Congrats on the smaller pant size! I aspire to that same joy. And I'm totally with you about number 5. There's nothing like seeing the joy of anticipation and thanksgiving on the young faces that reach for their part of the body of Christ at the altar rail. It's my favorite moment of Eucharist.
Hurray for you! We have a longer wait ahead for the crocuses, but I saw the first daffodil poking up in my yard yesterday.`
It is fun to have the sun shining later into the evening...congrats on the size smaller pants.
Yay for you!!!!
Yay for the smaller pants - that can be a lift every morning! And I love, love your #5 - especially when I hear them say as they head back to their seats "can I have some more?"
yes, lovely. I would love a #3 personally, and your #s 4 and 5 remind me of what is really important...
Great play. Love your #5: a special moment. Watching mothers who share the elements with their babies and toddlers is also precious, because you can see in their eyes that it is a wonderfully meaningful moment to them.
What beautiful answers! I wish we had crocuses here...but they will come. Congrats on the weight loss.
Yay for you!
We have a few weeks to go for the crocuses, but they will be much loved once they finally arrive!
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