Loading...A note from the Rector…
As we enter March, we are halfway through Lent. How are you doing during this season of self-examination, repentance, prayer, fasting, self-denial, and reading and meditating on God’s holy Word? (Book of Common Prayer, p. 265) I know I feel overwhelmed just looking at that list and probably do only part of the practices we are called to during this season.
Maybe it’s too worn, however, I think that remembering how life grows is helpful during this time. Most of nature around us has these times that appear dormant. We don’t see much evidence of life. Yet, there is a lot going on that provides the foundation for abundant growth and harvest. Lots is happening below the surface.
Last fall, for instance, I planted lots of tulip and hyacinth bulbs. The only way you can tell anything was planted is because of the grass I dug up and the resulting bare soil that remained. It looks like nothing is happening. The bulbs are supposed to bloom in the spring, so why on earth did I have to plant them in the fall? Why couldn’t I have just planted them in the spring?
Well, to seasoned gardeners and farmers, I ask a silly question. Those bulbs that appear invisible are being fed and the roots are growing so that in the spring, they will grow out of the ground and produce beautiful flowers.
So it is with us and so it is during this season. We turn inward to be nourished and fed. We are nourished by trying new behaviors that are good for us individually and for our creation. We turn inward to surround ourselves with the nutritious soil of God’s Word and what it means for our lives and for the world. We turn inward to acknowledge before God where we have gone astray, so we can move in a different direction. We turn inward to strengthen our roots in loving our neighbors as we love ourselves.
