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Lenten Devotion 3/20/2022

Devotion Nineteen
Sunday March 20, 2022

Today is the first day of Spring. It is a day to celebrate the changing of the seasons. It is a time to look for signs of new life. Well, if you live in a temperate climate. Not so much in our semi-tropical climate here in Florida.

Often when people move to Florida they say they miss the changing of the seasons. Having lived in Florida for 32 years, I have come to appreciate the changing of the seasons in different ways. We have the brutal heat and the intense thunderstorms of the summer. We have the season when oak trees drop their pollen, in our case, into the pool so we have to skim a couple of times a day. There are the two planting seasons for the vegetable garden – in the fall and as the new year begins. There is the season when the northerners are in Florida and the traffic is congested! So, there are ways that we can mark the seasons in Florida.

Here we are not going to know it is spring because all the bare branches on the trees begin to bud and those glorious spring green leaves appear. Or because the grass turns green. Or because flowers suddenly begin to emerge from barren dirt. It’s not as dramatic here. The changes are more subtle. So we have to pay more attention.

It can be like that with matters of the spirit. Sometimes there is dramatic unmistakable welcome change. And it is glorious. But often our spiritual growth is more subtle, incremental, and less flashy.

Our subtle seasons here in the semi-tropics invite us to look more closely. To pay more attention. To concentrate our awareness. To be more mindful. Because the world around us is going through its yearly paces and cycles. The plants and the animals are going through their seasons. Our son works on a farm in Bradenton and in the spring the calves are born. Nature stays true to its cycles.

These subtle seasonal changes reminds us of the need to pay attention to our spiritual cycles and seasons. How are we changing? How are we growing? What is surfacing in us? What is emerging? What is dormant and fallow? What comes up each year around the same time? This Lenten season is a time for reflection and examination and introspection. It’s a time to pay attention to what is going on with our spiritual lives. Maybe we haven’t had some kind of dramatic breakthrough, but if we are looking, we may just see that we are growing and learning and becoming more healthy and whole.

In the wildness of mercy, we may find that we are becoming more loving and caring and compassionate toward ourselves, others, and even our enemies. Even if it isn’t flashy and flowery, there may be slow and steady growth.

Prayer
Look outside, out a window, or sit on a porch. Notice the signs of life around you. How are things changing? Emerging? Growing? What are the signs of new life? Take some quiet moments to think about your life. Do you see some new attitudes or openings or softenings taking place? Do you see passions forming? Do you see new love emerging? Or maybe forgiveness or acceptance? Give thanks for the signs of life in your spirit. Amen.

Lenten Devotion 3/19/2022

Devotion 18
Saturday March 19, 2022

We had several huge clumps of lemongrass in our garden plot at the Azalea Community Gardens. These plants were in the plot when we first started
renting it about 8 years ago. The previous gardener left them. And the city did not remove them. So there was already lemongrass in our plot when we took it over.

But the lemongrass was too prolific. It did too well. We had to remove it because it had gotten too big. There is a maximum height of 4 feet for plants in the garden. The lemongrass was well over six feet. So, I dug it out and removed it. But there was so much of it. And I liked making lemongrass tea. So, I took the plants home and read up on how to grow lemongrass. I decided to cut back the stalks to six inches and then to put the plants in the ground in our yard at home and see what would happen. So, I cut all the stalks down and soaked the roots. I dug the holes and put in the clumps of stalks at various places in the yard. Then we watered them daily. Within one day, new green shoots started to appear with more appearing each day. And these new shoots were not shy. Within a few days some were six and eight inches tall. And they are continuing to climb. I have never seen anything come back so fast and furious after being severely pruned. I expect to be drinking lemongrass tea again soon. Maybe even by Easter!

During this time of Lent, we often reflect on what is holding us back from re-turning our lives to God. We think about naming the obstacles to our discipleship. We ponder the forces and influences that are distracting us from living fully and freely in the reality of God. This is intended to be a time of honest assessment and awareness. And in that process, we identify what we need to get rid of, cut back, chop down, prune, uproot, so that we might live fully in the joy and community of the kin-dom of God.

There can be a lot to let go of. To turn your back on. To strip away. And it can be a painful process. We may grieve what we must leave behind. We may be sorry for how we have wasted our energies. There may be waves of sadness and regret. But there is the lesson of the lemongrass – new life emerges. Bursts forth. Shoots up. Thrives.

This season, may our sadness or grief at letting go not overshadow the new life and possibility that is emerging. May our eyes and hearts be open to what is coming forth; appearing. Something new is happening. May we notice that as well and take courage and joy from the re-turning of new life. There is a wildness in mercy!

Prayer
Think about something you have let go of or moved away from. A habit. A relationship. A perspective. A behavior. A grudge. Notice the absence that is present. Now look for what is new. What is arriving. Relief. Energy. A new relationship or activity that brings joy. A lighter heart. A new purpose. A mended spirit. Give thanks for the wildness of Divine mercy that is with us through our pain all the way to the joy on the other side. Amen.