In the bulb there is a flower;
in the seed, an apple tree;
in cocoons, a hidden promise:
butterflies will soon be free!
In the cold and snow of winter
there’s a spring that waits to be,
unrevealed until its season,
something God alone can see.

(“Hymn of Promise,” Natalie Sleeth, ©1986 Hope Publishing Co. No. 707,The United Methodist Hymnal)


As I write this towards the end of February, we North Dakotans start to wonder: Will Spring ever arrive?

You know what I mean. The memory of stepping outdoors in mornings of thirty below (real temperature—never mind about wind chill) remain all too recent. Rumors of snow still show up on the nightly newscasts out of Fargo and Bismarck. Parkas hang at the ready in closets and mud rooms. Sidewalks and streets are treacherous with ice. And we know (and fear!) that this winter weather might well linger on for a couple more months. We know it can still snow in May!

Will Spring ever arrive?

Up here in the Northlands of the Great Plains, we know that the date of the vernal equinox—the first official day of Spring—March 20—does not necessarily mean a thing.

Neither do our preparations for celebrating the Resurrection of Our Lord on Easter Sunday (March 23), have much to do with getting ready for Spring. At one church elsewhere in North Dakota that Debra and I previously served, the custom was to hold an Easter sunrise worship service outdoors in a nearby state park commencing at the exact moment of dawn by the almanac. One year, we trudged out in the darkness before the Easter sun had become to come up to the state park amphitheater through snow that came up over our knees. That is what March and April can mean for us.

Will Spring ever arrive?

We know that it will! We have that faith. We can see that the days are getting longer (and the dark nights shorter!). We enjoy days when the temperature actually creeps up above freezing. If it snows, we know that it won’t last long on the ground before a thaw comes.

We know that Spring will arrive. We have faith that that is so.

And so it is with our faith in the resurrection we shall one day enjoy because of God’s love for us in Christ. Even though in our present time, the signs of God’s coming kingdom are few and far between, we still have faith that God’s love prevails over everything.

As surely as Springtime follows Winter even in North Dakota, our resurrection at God’s hands will follow the deaths those who trust in Christ.

In our end is our beginning;
in our time, infinity;
in our doubt there is believing;
in our life, eternity.
In our death, a resurrection;
at the last, a victory.
unrevealed until its season,
something God alone can see.

Thanks be to God!

Pastor Gary