Springtide

It is three weeks since we celebrated Easter. During that time, we have seen the spring rains gently wash over the landscape and blankets of bluebonnets and perky yellow daisy-like flowers spread themselves over the rolling hills. In my son's classroom, two of the eggs have hatched and fluffy little baby chicks peep their greetings to us every morning. In my house, Lily cat is shedding ALL OVER the place. Spring has most definitely sprung, and our hearts feel lighter somehow and filled with anticipation for what may come.

What was happening with the disciples three weeks after the crucifixion and resurrection, I wonder? What was their spring like 2000 years ago? It was probably a beautiful one, with the wildflowers popping up through the rocks and covering the hillsides like an intricately designed carpet from Persia. Perhaps it rained a lot that year. Or, perhaps it did not rain much at all, leaving the people dusty and the landscape brown.

Above all, it  must have been a season of hope for the followers of Jesus. Spring always brings hope; of life renewing itself and going forward. Seeds are planted with the hope they will bear crops. Eggs are laid and carefully tended in the hope they will bear new life. For Jesus' disciples, this particular spring must have filled them with hope like they had never felt in all their springs past.

I just ponder how it must have been to live life wondering moment to moment when Jesus might appear.Talk about hope!! How could they do their daily tasks thinking that Jesus could turn up? Right Now! Right Here! I wouldn't want to leave for even a second! Did they just get so excited and taken up with the possibility that they did nothing else?

It puts me in mind of 9/11. Do you remember how everything stopped? We went up to church and someone plugged in a little TV and we all just sort of remained there; sometimes praying, sometimes talking, sometimes merely watching the story unfold. Nothing else happened that day; people left work early and stayed at church past dinner time. We all wondered, 'What would happen next? Where is the President? Is he o.k.? Are the people in New York, the Pentagon o.k.?' We needed to be together somehow, to hope.

Of course, the disciples had an enormously joyous time of waiting together. The most awful tragedy had turned into the most wonderful miracle! And like us on 9/11, they must have wondered, too: 'Where is Jesus now? Will he come to see us today? What will he say if he does come?' They needed to be together, to hope and rejoice.

What about you? How hopeful are you this spring? Is it a time of happiness, of anticipation for you? Perhaps you are sad and feeling like everyone is happy but you. Or are you feeling nothing special, just life plodding along like it always does?

The book of Lamentations is not one normally associated with hope. Its very name invokes images of sadness, of mourning. But there is a passage in Lamentations that speaks quite joyously about hope. From 'The Message', Lamentations 3, starting with verse 19, it says:

"I'll never forget the trouble, the utter lostness, the taste of ashes, the poison I've swallowed. I remember it all - oh, how well I remember - the feeling of hitting the bottom. But there's one thing I remember, and remembering, I keep a grip on hope. God's loyal love couldn't have run out, his merciful love couldn't have dried up. They're created new every morning. How great is your faithfulness! I'm sticking with God."

Hope is an amazing state of mind. People who have hope can withstand almost anything, no matter the horror. Viktor Frankl and Corrie Ten Boom both survived the unique hell of the concentration camps with little more than hope. If you know someone who has survived cancer or beat an addiction, then you know someone with a doctorate in hope! (Maybe you are that person - if so, you are really quite AMAZING!!)

Don't you just love the phrase - '...I keep a grip on hope.'?  Sometimes it seems like that is all we've got, just a grip. A lot of the time it's a pretty shaky grip, isn't it? But a grip on hope! What a wonderful thing to think on. When our hope is in God, we are able to see his mercies all around us - like the verse says, they are 'created new every morning'. 

Something incredible for you might be just around the corner; a mercy from God created new this morning, special, for you. Maybe you will hear from a friend you were thinking about only yesterday. A prayer might be answered today. Maybe even Jesus could walk through the door. It happened once before, during a Springtide long ago.

If you have not heard the story of Kenny Hudnall, or visited his Caring Bridge website recently, please take a moment to read his story. If you need a 'grip on hope' let this incredible 6-year-old and his family inspire you! Just click on the link to your right.