Spring officially arrived two days ago, but this year it has felt like spring for a while already. This picture of our intrepid concrete-defying daffodils was taken two years ago - on about April 16. This picture proves how early spring is this year because the flowers look like this today on March 22.
A few years ago Steve and I were in San Francisco in early March. The flowers were blooming, the fields were bright green and the farmer's markets were overflowing with local produce. We'd flown out from JFK in some pretty dismal winter weather, so the contrast was striking. My first reaction was to be uncomfortable with it. "This is not very Lenten!"
You see, I have lived in New England all my life and I have become accustomed to how Lent falls in the gray and chilly time of year - the time of year when the snow has gotten hard and dirty and the sidewalks are gritty and things just look - well - dead. When the first crocuses finally start to come out - sometimes up through a late snowcover - and the soft green grass begins to bring life back into the gray landscape it gives Easter an added layer of meaning.
So while I've enjoyed the beautiful weather lately, I realize I've also been feeling a bit cheated out of the yucky late winter weather that makes the spring so sweet in comparison and gives Easter a literal new life feeling. And because of this, I can sometimes be a bit like the Lenten version of Ebineezer Scrooge or something. Spring? Sunshine? Daffodils? Bah Humbug!
What is wrong with that picture? Today it's 75 degrees and sunny with a gentle breeze and I'm sitting in my office resenting it? So at about 4 this afternoon, I realized I was nursing a stupid resentment and I went outside, took off my shoes and sat on a bench and enjoyed sitting in the sun. They say it's going to get cooler again soon. So I'm going to enjoy this day while I can and practice some gratefulness for small things.
Yet, to add another layer to this onion, there is something very Lenten still at work here. One of the reasons I know I have a Scrooge-like attitude toward this warm weather is because I know that the bigger picture of this lovely day includes the reality of an overall change in climate and the ominous environmental implications it reveals. I've noticed many people's discomfort with this obviously drastic change in the weather, and it seems that we all feel powerless to do much about it. So we say things like, "What a beautiful day!" but then kind of shrug and say, "It's so strange, isn't it? Weird. Almost unsettling." We are hovering on the edge of acknowledging that the root cause of this early spring is perhaps the result of a collective character defect of our society - of our wastefulness as Americans and our disregard for the planet.
There's a nice prayer in the prayer book. I think it expresses the better intent of those Biblical words, "dominion over," which has always given me some measure of discomfort.
Almighty God, in giving us dominion over things on earth,
you made us fellow workers in your creation:
you made us fellow workers in your creation:
Give us wisdomand reverence so to use the
resources of nature,
that no onemay suffer from our abuse of them,
and that
generations yet to come
may continue to praise you for your bounty;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
I guess that through pondering all this, I'm coming up with a new way to describe what Lent is all about. It's a time when we intentionally invite our discomforts to lead to more than just resentments or denial. It's a time when we have a chance to allow our discomforts (and life gives us no shortage of those...) to lead us to a deeper discovery of God's will for us. May you have a blessed Lent which brings you deep into the heart of God and prepares you for a new and transformed life this Easter.
