Bill Prather, pastor of the American Baptist Church in Fort Collins, Colo., sent me this delightful photo.
When photographers talk about “contrast” they are usually referring to the image’s quality rather than content. But the contrast in Bill’s photo reminds us that seasonal weather — like the seasons of life — is unpredictable and pays limited attention to our calendar-keeping.
Despite the late snow, Prather said spring is faithfully making its presence known in Colorado.
“A few weeks ago, I began watching a patch of dry dirt that was beginning to crack,” he said. “Since I didn’t think anything was planted there, silently I wondered if someone had disturbed the dirt or if a dirt dweller had been moving underneath the surface.
“But each day, the crack got a little larger until finally a bit of green growth appeared underneath the brown exterior. The growth was the head of a daffodil that thought it was time to sprout and poke through the ground for the new growing season.
“Soon the daffodil had grown several inches high and its protective skin was tightly wrapped around that little bud of a flower waiting for a return of the warmth of spring. A resilient little flower, now the daffodil has bloomed and waits eagerly for other hearty flowers to bloom.”
Bill said the young flower reminded him that we too should be concerned about new growth in our own lives. Seeking spiritual growth, he rightly noted, should be something that comes as naturally as a plant receiving water and nutrients and sunshine.
Perhaps it was a spring day when the prophet Isaiah recorded the divine reminder: “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?”
Director of the Jesus Worldview Initiative at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee and former executive editor and publisher at Good Faith Media.
