Through Stained Glass: A Flower Follow Up

“The splendor of the rose and the whiteness of the lily
do not rob the little violet of its scent nor the daisy of its simple charm.
If every tiny flower wanted to be a rose, spring would lose its loveliness.”
― St. Therese of Lisieux

 You all.

I made a goof.

 

If you noticed, there were no seeds in your Lent-In-a-Bag!

 

I'm sorry!

 

Here's what happened—not that any excuse is a good excuse.

 

When I was putting together our bags, I wanted to put in a seed of some sort we could enjoy by easter. One of the flowers that kept coming up in my searches were—crocuses. I then would search where to buy them and ran into the same answer—anywhere on the internets, but they wouldn't arrive in time for when we were to distribute our Lent-in-a-bag. At that point, I said, "Bummer! Oh well, I'll find something else."

 

And I didn't. I got busy, forgot about our flowers, and handed the bags out without seeds.

 

This happens when you try to do all the things and don't take time to double-check your work.

 

Yet, after my sermon yesterday [3/21], I had a few of you comment or send me messages about how you could relate to the squirrel story I told. In fact, one of you told me how you are anticipating the emergence of your flowers this spring … but the squirrel activity this last winter in your yard makes you a little skeptical.

 

I love hearing these stories. I know you love hearing stories from me, too. This is why I have this idea:

 

I want you to write me a story about your garden or what seeds you'll plant this spring or your favorite flower or the time when you were sure you planted the tulips by the fence, but they came up over near the garage.

 

If you don't want to write about your garden, flowers, or tell a story, please feel free to use the watercolor paints to create a picture of them! When you complete your art or story—send it to us at the church to share them on the bulletin board in the parlor. We've created a beautiful collage of our Lenten journey thus far, and I hope you make time to see it.

 

It is wild to think we are nearing the end of Lent. For five weeks now, we have read about God's covenant with God's people and the extremes God goes to save us! We've journeyed with Jesus as he proclaims the reign of God drawing near and that we can know the fullness of life with God here and now with each other. 

 

It is true, we are entering Lent's final days. Yet, we are still a resurrection people, which means we are Christ in the world now. Where we are – there Chris is, too. In and through us the glory—the heart of God—is revealed whenever we do justice, love kindness, and welcome the Risen Christ in everyone we meet!  

 

The good news is that the seed of Love has been planted already—and new life is soon to emerge!