This month we’ve had a change in the way we keep clock time. We’ve “sprung forward” an hour. Though not officially the beginning of spring on this Sunday, it reminds us of the beginning of spring.
Spring in Indiana brings hope as color rises forth in nature. Crocuses show forth in lavender. The daffodils and jonquils are bursting out in yellow and white. Tulip leaves are pushing through the hardened winter soil. The trees are starting to bud and sprout leaves. Song birds are returning with their joyful melodies. The earth fluctuates from late winter to early spring temperatures. We even get some snow though it doesn’t last.
How can this encourage us to spring forward in our spiritual lives?
Are you feeling like the frozen ground waiting to thaw? Maybe the rain would encourage the thawing if you would feel the sadness of a frozen heart. Letting the tears come could soften your heart and let you know that God is present in the sadness and tears.
Perhaps you are feeling like the trees whose roots deepened over the winter and are getting new life from the nutritious earth. Your encouragement to spring forward may be by reflecting on the ways God has nourished you in the midst of winter.
Do you feel like the tulip leaves carefully peeking up from the ground? Your encouragement to spring forward little by little may be as God guides you gently through quiet and prayer.
Are you feeling like the spring daffodils with their bright yellow color spreading joy to all who see them? Your springing forth may be sharing your own joy of God’s gifts to you.
Or are you like the cheerful songbirds encouraging others by offering the music of your life through your presence and not asking anything in return?
I invite you to take some time this season to reflect with gratitude on how God has encouraged you to spring forward in your own awareness of God’s gifts to you.
Creator God, thank you for the many beautiful examples of your love you’ve given us in nature this season. May they inspire and encourage us to spring forward to deepen our own love for you and all creation. Amen.