“Is the spring coming?” he said. “What is it like?”…
“It is the sun shining on the rain and the rain falling on the sunshine…” – Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden
Seeds.
How do they know? How can they be sure when I take them, tiny, dried and shriveled, torn from small packages and pushed into wet soil in little cups, into cold darkness – how do they know, I wonder, what to do?
Do they feel dead, useless, abandoned, lifeless, forgotten, put aside, finished, afraid, or misplaced? How does a seed buried come back from that, literally come alive, fully breaking free even where it cannot yet be seen – emerging gloriously spring-green from its dark burial place? How do they do that?
I have a counter full of seedlings springing up daily now, some perennials, pumpkins and squashes and decorative grasses. I have some herbs and flowers to attract butterflies. The joy of watching them appear surprises me every time. I always live in fear they will not do it. I always wonder if I over or under-watered the soil. Did I plant too deep? Was it a bad batch of seeds? Will these things really grow? And then – VOILA! They arrive.
I love it especially when I spy the tiniest green speck in a soil-filled egg carton section in the morning and by evening see this brand-new seedling has risen fully up to face the sun’s warmth through the kitchen window. How tenacious, how brave and resolute.
All of creation tells us the Story, THE Story. Jesus in a tomb, dark and cold. On the third day, He awakens, sits up pushing aside His shroud and somehow that stone is rolled away and He emerges victoriously, gloriously: Life. New Life! All things are made new and nothing will ever be the same. How tenacious the Love of God, how resolute and steadfast.
The winter has been cold and long, it has lingered too long. But the goodness and faithfulness of God fills my heart with promise. The seeds will burst from their tombs, spring will take hold. He is risen and everything is made new. – Jeanie Rhoades