He is Risen! Love is Come Again!

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Spring is a time of new life and renewal. The brown and barren landscapes are suddenly – almost overnight – transformed to green and lush. Leaves pop out along all the branches. Green blades of grass begin to emerge. And then the flowers come! The sign that reminds us we won’t stay in winter forever, but spring will triumph! First the early ones – the crocus and daffodils. Then the wisteria and azaleas. Next the irises. Finally the lilies.

We sang the hymn below at Easter service and it captures this so beautifully.

“Now the Green Blade Rises”, by John M.C. Crum

Now the green blade rises from the buried grain,
Wheat that in the dark earth many years has lain;
Love lives again, that with the dead has been:
Love is come again, like wheat that springs up green.

In the grave they laid Him, Love Whom we had slain,
Thinking that He’d never wake to life again,
Laid in the earth like grain that sleeps unseen:
Love is come again, like wheat that springs up green.

Up He sprang at Easter, like the risen grain,
He that for three days in the grave had lain;
Up from the dead my risen Lord is seen:
Love is come again, like wheat that springs up green.

When our hearts are saddened, grieving or in pain,
By Your touch You call us back to life again;
Fields of our hearts that dead and bare have been:
Love is come again, like wheat that springs up green.

A reminder that we don’t live in a Good Friday world. We are Easter people! Our world may be dark, barren, sad for a season, but it won’t stay that way forever. Jesus overcame death and rose from the dead. Love is come again!

As I walk around my garden in the spring, I see reminders of love that comes back year after year. Love that is sometimes mingled with sadness and grief, but reminders that love wins out in the end.

The wisteria from a cutting off one that was in my grandparent’s yard. The wisteria is a vine that covers our patio and looks like dead sticks all winter. Then suddenly it’ll be covered in purple, fragrant blooms before any leaves even bud out.  Kak and Padad’s home was the heart of our family.  The place we gathered for every birthday, anniversary, holiday or just because.  And when the wisteria bloomed it looked like a waterfall of blue and purple flowers. My wisteria is a reminder of those family gatherings, of loved ones no longer with us, of the abundance of love I felt as a child.

Love is come again!

The irises are from a family friend, part of my extended family at church.  Her yard was full of these irises and they were so beautiful when in bloom.  They remind me of the love I always felt at church growing up, of how family means more than our flesh and blood. The iris leaves stay green year-round, then the buds pop up in the spring and put on a show of purples, yellows, whites.

Love is come again!

The lilies are from my Great-Aunt Ella.  She and her husband didn’t have any children, so were like an extra set of grandparents to me.  They lived out in the country and always had a huge garden.  My memories of their house include gathering pecans, shelling peas, and picking figs.  The lilies die back every year in the winter. Then as the temperatures warm, they reemerge triumphant with the most beautiful red blooms.

Love is come again!

Not only the love invoked as I remember loved ones and memories strolling around my garden, but the love of Jesus risen from the dead. The celebration of Easter is that we don’t have to live in grief and sorrow forever. Yes, we’ll have seasons of winter – of grief, pain, sorrow – but our hearts will be green again. “By your touch You call us back to life again.” Spring will come and chase away the winter.

Jesus is risen! Love is come again!

Linking today with: Hear It, Use It, Monday Musings, Sharing His Beauty, Unite, Modest Monday, Titus 2 Tuesday, Titus 2sDay