Signs of Spring abound. There is talk of studying the latest seed catalogs, of checking almanacs, of measuring out plots for veggies and flowers, of delighting in the first crocus, daffodils, and tulips.
On the most recent Winter Wellness Zoom Gathering, several sisters noted how much they are anticipating the warmth, smells, sounds and colors of Spring. Everyone longed for being outdoors to experience firsthand the renewing energy of the season.
So when I read that 2000-year-old seeds found at Masada and Qumran in the Middle East have now grown into trees that are bearing date fruit, my amazement and curiosity were piqued. For two millennia, these seeds were dormant, holding within themselves the potential for bearing fruit. I ask myself, what else is dormant and just awaiting the right conditions to sprout and blossom? In society, in church, in us?
Some cultivate the soil, some plant, some water, some prune, some fertilize, some harvest. Where are you on any given day in this process of nurturing that beautiful Garden that is God’s Reign?
Two-thousand-year-old seeds from the “Jesus era” have so much to teach me! Little wonder they are symbols of the Paschal Mystery and Risen Life. Alleluia!
Please join me in singing “Now the Green Blade Riseth from the Buried Grain.”
First Verse:
“Now the green blade riseth, from the buried grain,
Wheat that in dark earth many days has lain;
Love lives again, that with the dead has been:
Love is come again like wheat that springeth green.”