As we noted some forty or so days ago, the Latin word lent means “length” and is a term used to denote the arrival of the Spring season. A season in which the world is filled with newness, from buds to berries, blossoms to babies, the greening of grass to the lengthening of sunlight’s gaze on each days life; in Spring, the whole world seems reborn!
It’s fitting, then, that as we approach the sure-scheduled destination of our Lenten journey, we take a moment to reflect on the fact that Easter marks the beginning of our “Christian calendar.” Each Easter, we remember the rebirth of life with God through Jesus, and that post-Easter morning, we live in a world bursting with newness. That means each morning waking in the place the apostle Paul dubbed “the new country of grace” (Rom. 6:2).
Though today marks a day of darkness, what makes it “Good Friday” is the possibility of all the life after death that it brings and continues to bring anew into our world each and every day. So, let’s join together in a Springtime Prayer.
Wonderful Savior, please help us to use this newly revived springtime season to revive a newness in our hearts, a freshness of your Spirit in our homes and in our lives. Help us to respond to life with mercy, meekness, consideration, and love, as Jesus did.
As we live day by day, remind us of the beauty of spring, and what new beginnings mean within us and in the lives of those around us. Place those in our path who need help to see and experience the springing of your life in them. Present us with situations where we can support one another and teach us to pray with prophetic, transformative empathy on behalf of friends, family, and enemies. And give us the wisdom and the hope to live with courage coupled with compassion.
Because Jesus lives, and we live with him. Amen.