From the Pastor: May Flowers

My beloved speaks and says to me:
“Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away,
for now the winter is past, the rain is over and gone.
The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come,
and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.”
~Song of Songs 2:10-12

Dear Friends,

As I write this the birds are singing wildly outside the office window. At least for today, “the rain is over and gone,” the birds are merry and eager, and the flowers are blooming—including my beloved purple hyacinths, who appear and disappear in a flash.

As May begins, we remain in Easter Season, a full fifty days from the celebration of the resurrection to the day of Pentecost. During this time our stories move from the scenes that include the risen Christ with his disciples to stories of resurrection in daily life. We move from our foundational story—Christ, who died and rose again—to the strong insinuation that resurrection is, in fact, all around us. We are invited to live the risen life.

What is the risen life, you say? This starts with baptism, a sign of our justification (to use a good Reformed word); i.e., God’s reminder that we are members of the beloved community, the very body of Christ. Then, for the rest of our lives, we engage in sanctification (a good Methodist term, but we Reformed folks use it, too)—which is to say, our day-by-day working out of our salvation with fear and trembling, “for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” To put it more simply, sanctification is the daily work of seeking to love God with our heart and soul, mind and strength, and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.

This season of growth and color and fragrance is a wonderful reminder of all these things: the marvelous work of God in and through Jesus; the marvelous work of God in the beautiful creation that surrounds us; and the marvelous work of God in us, as we grow and learn and love and serve.

Every blessing to you, as we move through this season to the day of Pentecost. That is when we remember God’s sending the Spirit to warm our hearts, to stir the winds of change, and to empower us to serve with joy.

Grace and Peace, Rev. Pat Raube