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A season for everything….

‘Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will God not much more clothe you – you of little faith?’ (Jesus, as recorded in Matthew 6: 28-30)

Most days my phone will suggest photos from previous years that I might like to see again, presumably in the knowledge that with my increasing age and failing faculties I am unlikely to remember without my phone’s promptings! This week my memories included a picture of the Osteospermum plants in our garden in full bloom. Sometimes also known as daisy bushes or African daisies, our plants are a riot of pink – and have flowered almost all year round for several years. They are a joy to behold!

Or, at least, they were. We think it was that week earlier this year when even daytime temperatures failed to get above freezing and the night times were in the double-digit negative readings. Our little corner of Essex was covered with quite a heavy fall of snow, and a combination of the length and severity of the freeze finished off a number of our plants in the garden. Azaleas, Hydrangeas, and Rhododendrons all perished. And our patch of ever-present pink joyfulness was simply a tangle of dry bare twigs. Karen did all the usual things in terms of cutting back and giving it time. But to no avail. Replacements have been bought and will be planted out once the weather improves.

Death and dying are a natural part of our natural world. For everything there is a season…

But our Christian hope also contains a promise that goes against the grain of the natural way of things. Death does not have the final word in the story of Jesus, and nor will it have the final word in our lives! We are an Easter People, living lives of resurrection hope! Sometimes the journey to new life takes us through a winter of death and dying before we can encounter the resurrection reality beyond. Where, O death, is your victory? Christ is risen!

Sometimes we need to look carefully for the signs of life and glimpses of hope. For many of us it can feel like the winter was too long and the spring will never come again. But God hasn’t finished with us yet…

A full 12 months on from the photo of riotous pink that was our Osteospermum there is no pink to be seen in this week’s photo. But look again. Look carefully, and there is new green growth beginning to emerge… It may take time. We may not see flowers this spring. But the gardener knows what she is doing. There will be pink again!

This week’s thought was written by John Goddard, Minister of Saffron Walden Baptist Church, and EBA Trustee