Back in early February, on those coldest and harshest days of winter, it was hard to imagine that spring would ever come. If I hadn’t seen winter end and spring arrive before, I’m not sure I could have wrapped my mind around the fact that the same neighborhood where snow, ice and bitter winds chilled me to the bone would in just a short while be warmed by spring sunshine and filled with the beginnings of spring growth. But it happens every year. No matter how unlikely it may seem, spring always comes.
In this week’s Gospel reading (among other things), Jesus uses the image of a seed falling to earth and dying to talk about how sometimes what seems like death and loss actually can mean a new beginning, followed by rich and abundant growth. We may have to look beyond the initial circumstances and the limits of our imagination, but God is all about new life.
When I was in elementary school, my class planted beans in dirt and watched our own plants grow. Since I grew up around gardens, I knew what would happen, but I still remember looking with wonder at the hard, tiny seed. It was amazing to see it transform as it grew out of the dirt.
Transformation happens in our world all the time. Hope, growth, and new beginnings happen where we may see nothing at first. Loss may look like death, but it can be a transition, or even an opportunity for remarkable growth. Like the dead of winter leads to the warmth and life of spring, our sorrows and losses can lead to new beginnings; to moments of transition and transformation.
As you see spring start to grow around us, remember that God brings that kind of new life all around you, and also within you. As you see buds and flowers and tiny leaves, consider what new growth is beginning in you in the very places you thought were dead. God is constantly bringing new life where we may see only death and loss.
Peace,