What If God ...?
04-05-2021
By Brenda Pogue
There is no doubt that living in the Midwest comes with a wave of weather blues, but what is most apparent is the distinct change of seasons. After what seems like the longest of seasons, where we are bundled up in the thickest of clothing, strapped in the heaviest boots, wrapped in the warmest of garments to insulate against the fiercest cold temperatures, we gradually, layer by layer, begin to shed the fabrics of winter as the earth begins to thaw. Like the bear, we hibernate, but ours is a den made of clothing.
Then, like the tulips that rise to announce the beginning of spring, we are also elevated by the joy of the new season. Spring seems to bring a sigh of relief for the ability to shed the weight of winter, and blossom with the unencumbered feeling of movement.
As the flower comes into bloom so, too, do we seem to experience a kind of spiritual blooming with the coming of spring. There is joy of freedom in the air! Galatians 4:10 tells us, “You are observing special days, and months, and seasons, and years” (NRSV). What if God created the seasons as a way to complete our joy? Though we don’t want to go back to being enslaved by the burdensome layers of winter, if we remain in the Midwest, we must! Though the harshest of winters may feel like a curse as we arm ourselves against them, the true joy is in the blessed anticipation of the coming of spring. What if true joy rests in anticipation of what is to come?
So let us be observant, and find joy in the tulips, in the warmth of the sun, and the renewed budding of life all around us as winter transitions into spring. Then, let us be observant and rejoice in the spiritual transition within us that comes from what the natural transition brings.
