Is there any time more unpredictable than Spring? This week it is supposed to be upwards of 67 degrees one day...and below 30 the next. In this week alone we are expected to get sunshine, clouds, rain, possible snow (I hope not), wind, calm...the poor meteorologists are perennially flustered this time of year! I went outside today and saw a pair of robins, a sure sign of warm weather. They were gathering nesting material next to a pile of snow that has stoically persisted since Christmas. I cannot till my vegetable garden, the weather stays dry just long enough for me to plan it, and then rains. Two Sundays ago I enjoyed a bike ride in the nearby park...and the next day I listened to the rumble of thunderstorms.
And so in Spring we are gifted with a deep sense that life is not under our control. Despite our best efforts, despite the fact that our species has conquered seven continents and built skyscrapers that literally reach into the clouds, despite the fact that we have developed life-saving therapies for the deadliest diseases and sent people into space and walked on the Moon, despite the fact that I can write this literally anywhere on the planet and you can read it anywhere else on the planet...despite all of this, we cannot control something so simple as when it will rain.
Lent is a time of self-centeredness, a time of personal reflection. It allows us an annual period to pause and reflect upon ourselves. It seems fitting that the period of our calendar devoted to self-reflection should coincide with the period of upheaval in the weather. Should we, while reflecting upon our lives and the life of Christ, see ourselves as helpless in a world of chaos? Or should we see ourselves as champions of this planet, of this universe, and smile at our triumph? I, for one see both. I know in my heart that there are things in my life I cannot control and cannot conquer without His help. But I also take strength in knowing that in the midst of this chaos there is Someone I can absolutely count on to be with me through it all.
And so as we sit here in the warm Spring air (or possibly cold) and enjoy longer days of sunshine (or perhaps cloudiness), perhaps we should take heart that during this time of meteorological chaos there is one thing on which we absolutely can rely. There is one thing that no matter what the weather, no matter how boggled the meteorologists seem to be, we can be sure of. And that one thing, of course, is the rebirth of our King.
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