Praying with Creation in Springtime

A post I wrote to share with my church:

The cycles of the seasons give us marvelous opportunities to be inspired by and pray along with the changes we see happening before our eyes.

This spring, everything around us is strange and uncertain. Many of us are following the instructions to stay isolated from other people for the important purpose of slowing the spread of COVID-19. We might be feeling anxious or lonely, maybe even with a sense of a cloud of doom hanging over everything (or is that just me?). We don’t know how long this situation will last and we don’t know what’s going to happen. We’re worried for our families, ourselves, our church, our businesses, our communities, and probably a myriad other things.

But we do know some things for certain. We know that God is with us. Isaiah 139:7-10 (NRSV) reads: 

Where can I go from your spirit?

    Or where can I flee from your presence?

If I ascend to heaven, you are there;

    if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.

If I take the wings of the morning

    and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,

even there your hand shall lead me,

    and your right hand shall hold me fast.

So good luck escaping that.

We also know that the plants are waking up. Green blades poke out of the ground to become daffodils. Buds suddenly appear on bare tree branches. Seeds started indoors delight us with their first leaves as we wait and watch. With each day, more and more green things appear all around us. Regardless of a global pandemic, politics, and whatever else is troubling us, green things persist. Soon the whole land will be in bloom, filled with color and promise. Even if we may not gather in groups, we can go outside and experience greenness. These plants will feed us, body and soul, with their nutrients and beauty. This is an annual reminder of the promise of God: that God will make all things new.

I encourage you to consider this promise, and if you are able, to take a walk out in your yard or some other place where you can be alone outdoors (in keeping with social distancing!) and look for the signs of spring and of greenness. Consider the force and persistence of Life, and the New Creation to come. Share your thoughts with God in prayer.

"Glance at the sun. See the moon and the stars.

Gaze at the beauty of earth's greenings.

Now think.

What delight God gives to humankind with all these things..."  --Hildegard of Bingen