From Pastor Jess:

I finally saw my first crocus of the season. Maybe this is old news for you that these amazing little flowers are emerging from the soil after this long, freezing winter. Depending on the direction your home faces, you may have a yard-full already. But I finally saw my first one the other day, and it made me cry, for a couple of reasons.

One- spring is coming. Warmth and sun and light and color are coming. What a relief! What a relief that despite everything, there is beauty. What a relief that what’s as-good-as-dead can come to life and flourish once again. What a relief that this happens not only in the soil of the earth, and that not even concrete can stop life from springing up, that’s how strong the force and instinct to live is, but it also happens in the soil of our hearts, where Christ the gardener is working the dirt with his own hands, loosening up the hardened clumps, adding in mercy, faith and love, removing rocks, and making space for the growth to come.

Two- my tears came because seeing the green and growing things came as such a shock, like I’d forgotten that the earth is still spinning in the Milky Way, that the seasons still come and go, and that there is more, way more, happening than what’s in my head and right in front of my eyes. I had not been paying attention. I was hearing and seeing only that which fed my fear, and not enough of what feeds my hope. That is not how I want to live, even in a time of crisis, which this certainly is.

This Sunday we will hear the parable commonly referred to as The Prodigal Son in Luke’s Gospel. I’m guessing you know it well. Try to hear it as if for the first time. What do you notice? Maybe something you previously missed will grab your attention. Pay attention to the Word of God in the same way that you give your attention to the news you consume. You might see and experience life in a new and abundant way, a way that gives you hope and strength. Like the crocuses.

My Office Hours for the week of March 31 are:

Tuesday, 4/1: 9-3; Wednesday, 4/2: 9-3

Pastor Jess Lambert