April 15th, 2025

Beloveds in Christ,  

It has been a challenging Lenten season. These forty days (47 if you count the Sundays) have been marked by deaths of loved ones close to home, concerns about friends across the country who might have funding and jobs illegally cut, and wars and rumors of wars abroad.  It has been hard to make plans because everything feels as unsteady as that spring snowstorm last week. We woke up to three inches of snow covering the daffodil shoots in the yard. The snow was gone by 2 pm. The whole yard is still a muddy mess. 

 As we enter into Holy Week on the heels of a funeral of one beloved and a celebratory confirmation service for two more, I am reminded that one of the real tasks of this season is to remain connected to one another in times of joy while also addressing the hardships of the moment. The rhythms of this week, the movements through celebration, connection, betrayal, and despair, very much mirror the rhythms of the world in which we live at the current moment. All that is good and life-giving is jumbled together with that which is death-dealing and destructive. The still water and green pastures are right here in the valley of the shadow of death. Many of us are finding ourselves still fearing evil.  ​
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​When our hearts are wintry, grieving, or in pain, Christ’s warm touch can call us back to life again.                 
                    
     From “Now the Green Blade Rises,” lyrics John M.C. Crum 
Picture
Daffodils in the snow
As Kenneth Samuel notes in his Holy Saturday devotional “Are We at the End Yet?” from the Into the Deep devotional, “The utter termination of all that is familiar in life isn’t particularly a comforting thought to most of us.” That is part of the grief of this moment. Institutions and networks on which we rely for physical and emotional sustenance are being dismantled. And, the dismantling is unpredictable and, often, mean on purpose. No one wants to be told that their ability to survive is fraud. No one wants good work to be called “waste.”  

In the same devotional, Samuel speaks of the “seeds of new ways of being” already existing within that which is ending. I hope you can join me in searching for these seeds. It’s about time to plant anyway. Maybe we can grow something beautiful in all of this mud and muck.  There are four little crocus in my yard telling us it might be possible. 
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See you in worship,  
Pastor Chrissy ​

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