New Life Bursting Forth

​This spring it seems like the rains have been unrelenting. We barely have enough time to dry off from one storm when another one appears on the horizon. In fact, we’ve been told to brace for another big one that should arrive later today and is expected to bring rain to our area and dump up to 10 feet of snow in the Sierras.
All this rain is good news for our area which usually lives with the threat of drought. All this rain has also brought forth a surge of growth and wildflowers. Plants and grass are sending up shoots of green. Fields of oxalis and mustard are painting the landscape in bright yellows and greens.  Even the ancient jade plants in my yard look greener and brighter having had a year’s worth of dust washed off their leaves.
Cleansing and new life is also what the Easter season in the church is all about. We spend the season of Lent reflecting and being transformed, like a seed in the ground drinking in the rain, putting down roots and then sending up green shoots. Jesus uses the analogy of a seed that falls into the earth, dies as a seed and is reborn as a plant that bears fruit to describe his own death and resurrection and the transformation which his followers would undergo. 
Traditionally, Lent was the season when new Christians were prepared for Baptism which was held at the Easter Vigil. The Vigil occurred late in the evening of the Saturday before Easter and was timed so that the baptisms occurred at midnight of Easter morning to coincide with Jesus’ resurrection. The sacrament of baptism captures both the idea of cleansing and of new birth. The water symbolizes the Holy Spirit washing us clean. Being immersed in the water also joins us to the dying and rising with Christ.  In baptism we hear God’s words “Beloved Child of God” spoken to us, an identity we can hang on to no matter what.
This rainy spring season, may the showers from above remind you that you are a Beloved Child of God. If you haven’t been baptized yet or you have been baptized and want to learn more about the sacrament, make an appointment to stop by. I’d love to talk to you about it. Blessing, Pastor Sue