-by Rev. Nick Phillips
I often sit by the window in my office when I do my writing. Over the last few weeks I’ve watched the ice come and go as the wind shifts from onshore to offshore. Just hoping this might be the “last time” and spring will finally arrive.
Between recent snowstorms, and those teasingly warmer days, we’ve been longing for spring and the better weather it promises. The signs are starting to emerge. Outside one of my churches, the crocuses are just starting to poke through the soil. Maybe our calendars are not lying to us, could spring be finally on its way?
The other day, sitting by my office window, writing, I saw another sign of spring. Out of the corner of my eye, a crow landed in the yard, poking around in the grass, grabbing and pulling on sticks, hopping into a tree and pulling on small branches. It dawned on me…this crow is gathering nesting material.
I find it remarkable how these so-called “lowly creatures,” with supposedly inferior intelligence, instinctively know when to start preparing for spring. There is just something that happens with the longer days, and marginally warmer temperatures which triggers their preparations. Birds seem to just wake up one morning and think it’s time to start building a nest. Butterflies wake up in Mexico and know when to start their long fluttering flight north to Canada. The same goes for hummingbirds and many other migratory species. It’s like they have a built-in calendar which tells them what they need to do at particular times of year. I can’t even remember where I left my glasses most days.
Meanwhile for us, spring feels less like a season and more like a coiled piece of metal. It’s not even as predictable as a slinky going down the stairs. Daytime temperatures spring up and down. Weather bounces all over the place. Snow one day. Sun the next. And with these fluctuations, so does our mood. Won’t spring just finally get here?
We can learn a lot from the animal kingdom. They just seem to go about their lives without a lot of stress. They just instinctively know what it is they must do. They know when to wake up from their winter’s sleep, whether that be bears or bees, or grass and flowers. They know when to begin their long migration north. Every year, pretty much on schedule, they appear.
In Luke 12 Jesus says, “Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them…Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these…Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”
Jesus reminds us we have an important part to play, one that is blessed. If God has not forgotten nature, God will certainly not forget us.
Maybe take a moment today and consider your blessings. You might consider them from God, or not. But there is something in our lives for which we can give thanks. What is yours today? What about last week? Or last month?
I find spring a good time of year to spend time with these kinds of thoughts, especially this year with the long winter we’ve been enduring, even still into the new season. And for the church, Lent, the period leading to Easter, is a time where we are often quite reflective on our own lives and how it is impacted by the life of Jesus.
The world around us is awakening to the change of seasons. Things are happening we might not fully understand. Yet we count on them as signs of a new season to come. They remind us warmer weather is on its way.
And for Christians, spring means the hope of Easter is not that far off. As we reflect on our blessings, we are reminded that throughout his life, Jesus showed us that through the highs and lows we are never truly alone. God is with us.