Finally

Monday in the Fourth Week of Lent

For I am persuaded that your love is established for ever;
you have set your faithfulness firmly in the heavens.
Psalm 89:2

Finally. After weeks of looking. After scanning the snow-weary grass as I walk in my neighborhood. After measuring in centimeters the progress of the red-green tips of eventual tulips emerging from 

two-year-old mulch. Finally, I spy early spring blooms. Crocuses. 

I have always loved these petite blossoms, brave enough to emerge in snow, willing to be the short-lived harbingers of spring and possibility. Small. Mighty. Determined.

I need these reminders.  I need to see new life. I need to be mindful that crocuses have been blooming since before I was born and will certainly continue long after I have left this life. I need to remember that I am small. Even insignificant in the greater masterpiece that is God’s painting.

How do I measure progress through Lent? How do I know I am making my way across the wilderness? How do I know that this path will finally deposit me in the arms of resurrection?

I cannot know. I can only place myself in the hands of the holy One who created the crocus and gave me eyes to admire. 

Photo credit: Anne E. Kitch