Thursday, April 19, 2012

Showers, Flowers, and The Hours

This is now my upcoming third round in experiencing a remarkable celebration for a blessed child's passage of matriculation from secondary school into further undergraduate studies through higher education. There seems to be so much wrapped up in the process of helping usher a no-longer-so-little one in their progress through living life to the fullest in the Lord our God Who is the resurrection and the life, the One Who came that we might have life and have it to the full—and abundantly so.

 
 

The saying, "April showers bring May flowers," comes to mind once again as I write on this spring day in the early days of the season of Easter as we traverse through the church's liturgical calendar. The poet's and prophet's words reign down upon us in seasons such as these, showering blessings unto us from above.

 
 

As the rain and the snow

   come down from heaven,

and do not return to it

   without watering the earth

and making it bud and flourish,

   so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,

so is my word that goes out from my mouth:

   It will not return to me empty,

but will accomplish what I desire

   and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

Isaiah 55:10-11 (NIV)


 

Isn't that what these passing years, these days, these hours are about? Seeing that which comes to fruition by the very hand of the Lord Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth to the glory of God our Father, manifest in the lives of dearly loved ones, blessed to be a blessing upon the world that God so loves—that God gave God's only Son that whosoever believes in should not perish but have eternal life.


 

In the Pullitzer Prize (1999) winning novel of fiction, The Hours, by Michael Cunningham, the author writes beautifully, venturing into a poignant exploration of the depths of relationships, living and dying, and love. In the book and also in the film, the reader/viewer finds a leading character reflecting at the end of the day:


 

...this for consolation: an hour here or there when our lives seem, against all odds and expectations, to burst open and give us everything we've ever imagined, though everyone but children (and perhaps even they) know these hours will inevitably be followed by others, far darker and more difficult. Still, we cherish the city, the morning, we hope, more than anything for more. Heaven only knows why we love it so.

To look life in the face. Always to look life in the face and to know it for what it is. At last to know it. To love it for what it is, and then, to put it away… Always the years. Always the love. Always the hours.

 
 

To this the apostle Paul in Acts 17:24-28 (NIV) reminds me:

"The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth… [God] gives all men life and breath and everything else. From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and [God] determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. 'For in him we live and move and have our being.'"

Grace and Peace,

Pastor Rex

    P.S. You are invited! For graduating seniors' open house info, please see the church calendar.