Contributing Writer
Pastor Shawn Hannon
Hope Lutheran Church, Arcade, NY
Spring is that time of year where life starts to appear everywhere. Trees bud and flower. Landscapes, formerly brown and barren, begin to fill in with bright greens and yellows. Flowers break forth cold earth. But, and I assume I am not the only one with this happening, sometimes life does not just appear where we expect it in the spring, but places it doesn’t belong as well.
As I write this it is the middle of April, and I feel like I have already lost the battle against the weeds in my patio. Against every odd, they are everywhere. Despite removing the sod and top soil. Despite landscaping fabrics and 4” of crushed stone. Despite pavers locked with Sakrete cementing grout (guaranteed to guard against weeds! Or so they say). The weeds have found a way.
As we continue in these weeks of Easter, while I’m somewhat annoyed at the weeds, I am also in awe of their resilience. And as I think about Easter, I am reminded that that is the power of God: Life finds a way. Despite all obstacles and against all odds. Even death, Easter reminds us, cannot stop life. Just consider the empty tomb.
In truth God has been demonstrating that for us through creation since the beginning of time. From the miracle of creation itself to the shocking reminder that life has found a way in some of the most barren and extreme climates on earth. A quick look at where scientists have found life will reveal that no matter how hot or cold, how high or low, how dry or how deep you look, you can find living things.
Easter reminds us that life has even defeated death, and that life has gone forth from the tomb and penetrated every part of our lives. And if life has defeated the grave, then surely life is at work in every other desperate and dark place we experience as well—be it depression, poverty, illness, unemployment, guilt, shame, addiction, loneliness, anxiousness, fearfulness, or anything else. God’s life is like a weed—it cannot be stopped, and death has already lost the battle to it.
As life continues to spring forth from the earth, may we be equally on the lookout for all the ways God’s life continues to spring forth in our lives—in all the places and ways we expect, and in last places we would imagine.
For more inspiration and insights from past columns, please visit www.jamestowngazette.com and click on the Faith Matters page. The Jamestown Gazette is proud to present our county’s most creative and original writers for your enjoyment and enlightenment.
