Thought for Today
Genesis 1:11 Then God said, "Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it." And it was so.
Song of Solomon 2:12 The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.
Luke 8:5 "A sower went out to sow his seed; and as he sowed, some fell on the path and was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up.
1 Corinthians 3:8 The one who plants and the one who waters have a common purpose, and each will receive wages according to the labor of each.
As I look out the window to my left, I see our flowering cherry tree in full, resplendent bloom. Just to the left of it, I see our crabapple tree blossoming, adding the pink flowers to the red leaves. Our various maple trees are budding forth. One of our dogwoods is in full flower; two are just beginning to open up; and, the other two are just budding out. Daffodils are in full flower; lilies, roses, hydrangeas and other plants are opening up their leaves, awakening from their winter’s slumber.
One of the most dramatic differences between our Texas home and our New England home occurs in spring. So much of the vegetation in Texas is evergreen. Even our knockout roses kept their leaves in winter. Here, almost everything becomes leafless during winter. Only our pine trees, our spruces, our azaleas and our rhododendrons remain green during winter.
In April and May, our yard begins to come back to life. The grass turns from a pallid, yellowish green to full, verdant green. Trees leaf out, plants leaf out. Nurseries begin to restock for the planting and cultivating season. For those of us more used to southern climates, the difference is striking and welcomed.
Traditionally, Easter is thought of as a celebration of the rebirth from the death of winter. Easter marks the beginning of wearing ‘spring’ colors, Easter bonnet, white clothing, etc. Here, Mother’s Day and Pentecost are more accurate markers for the increased sunshine and the warmer days of spring.
Each year we have lived in New England, as we enter this time of year, I recall all of the scriptures about planting, about God’s Creation as I watch “. . . the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it." We planted 2 apple trees in our backyard our first year here. As I look out the window today, both are covered in white blossoms. Last year we had some blossoms, but a late freeze ruined our apples. I’m keeping my fingers crossed this year.
We don’t often think or hear much about how geography, climate and topography influence the Bible. If you have watched the television news lately, you have seen pictures of Gaza. Gaza abuts the Sinai Peninsula. Much of the southern Mediterranean coast is desert. There are pockets of arable land, along the Nile River in Egypt and in a few other locales. But, without irrigation, the Sinai and the Negev Deserts are barren, rocky, sand covered waste land. It is very understandable why, after 40 years of wandering in the Sinai and Negev, the Israelites referred to the Jordan River Valley as a land of milk and honey.
It is easy to understand our lives in metaphorical terms of deserts, wastelands, rainfall and the lack thereof. Many of us have periods where we metaphorically wander in the deserts of our lives. Times of being lost, abandoned, feeling forgotten by our God and everyone else. Dry, dusty times.
But, if we are patient, if we remain faithful and pray, we too can enter into a metaphorical land of milk and honey. For me, irrespective of whatever desert times I may be experiencing (thankfully none presently), spring always transitions me into those times of metaphorical rebirth, into my own ‘land of milk and honey.’
There is a reason why Jesus told the Parable of the Sower, why Jesus used so many parables dealing with sowing, reaping, fishing and the other activities of a subsistence economy. Jesus used examples to which his listeners could relate. That is why Paul wrote about planting and cultivating. For us, even if we neither plant nor water, even if we have never gardened, these stories help us understand our Creator God.
Stay safe, relish the rebirth of spring, trust God,
Pastor Ray