March is upon us, it’s a time of transition,
the cold begins to recede, the snow melts away,
the land looks bare and less than glorious,
promise and hope float through the air,
our spirits begin to stir and anticipate new seasons,
baseball and gardening, garage sales and outdoor ministry
Lent comes first; linked with March, it reveals the ground of our soul,
Apart from the grace, mercy and God’s new creation we are cold, frozen
Our souls become littered like our lawns, with debris blown over us in the winter,
Lent, like the winds of spring loosen the limbs of the trees, shakes us, sifts us,
Jesus talked of being like a vine dresser,
He said the vine dresser comes through to trim, to peel away the fruitless growth,
to take away the things which take energy but don’t produce fruit
Lent can bare us, strip us of leaves
The warm winds blow, the Holy Spirit is at work
The Vine is in The Father, and when we’re in the vine
There’s clearing, cleaning, growing, fruit bearing
And the Gardener rejoices.
Glory to the Gardener!
Let March come, Let Lent come,
Let us look for the vine dresser, let the clearing, the cleaning begin
Let the planting of God’s re-creative grace sink into hearts warmed by the Spirit
Arise O flowers, Arise O lawn, Arise O people, and sing glory to the Vine Dresser.
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