April Saints and Seasons Article

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Saints and Seasons 

“The word of Lord came to to me, saying; “Jeremiah, what do you see?” and I said “I see a branch of the almond tree.” The the Lord said to me, “You have seen well, for I am watching over my word to perform it.” (Jeremiah 1:11) 

The God of the Old Testament, like His Son God-with-us,  asks us to look carefully and see.  If we are attentive and attuned to what is happening in front of us, in us and around us, and open to God’s voice calling to us, we will hear.  God always takes the initiative. Paul reminds the Romans that  “Ever since the creation of the world, the eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they may be, have been understood and seen through the things that God has made.” (1:20)

God does not hide Himself, and the life of Jesus seems to be one invitation after another to follow, to “come and see” to know and to respond to His love.The invitation came first through the Holy Spirit, to Mary, his mother, to the teachers  in the temple when he was 12; later, when he had grown to manhood, to the fishermen James and John, to Peter and the others - remember that Peter’s call came through his brother’s invitation to ”come and see; then on to Mary Magdalene and all the women who loved and served and followed Jesus through his ministry, to the Samaritan woman at the well, and to us; and after us, to our children and to our children’s children.  We respond to an invitation. We are not asked to believe in the dark although, once believing, we must frequently believe through the dark as the disciples did on that black Friday which only in retrospect can we call “Good” and that day of desolation and loss that we now call Holy Saturday. 

But then came Easter, when God’s own power raised a very dead Jesus to life, wounds and all, and the invitation continued. Continues. We are not asked to believe in the dark. He appeared first to Mary in the garden and when she did not recognize him, he called her name.  “Mary,” he said,  and it was that oh-so-dear voice that awakened her faith. The men did not believe her and so Jesus came to them too, appearing through locked doors.Later, since Thomas was not there, he came again, inviting Thomas to touch and see.  He appeared on road to Emmaus  (the word means “warm spring”) and on the beach at dawn, inviting them to eat and see. 

We are not asked to believe in the dark, but through it. God does not abandon His own. No matter what it looks like, no matter what it feels like 

Though the fig tree does not blossom

and no fruit is on the vines;

though the product of the olive fails

and the fields yield no food;

though the flock is cut off from the fold,

and there is no herd in the stalls, 

yet will I rejoice in the Lord; 

I will exult in the God of my salvation

(Habakkuk 3: 17-18)

Look what do you see? 

I see an almond branch in bloom.  

Louise Buck

April 2011

Saints and Seasons @ is a monthly (except for August) column written by Louise Buck  for the community at St David's Episcopal Church, 5050 Milton St, San Diego CA.