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Sensing Spring


Okay, full disclosure, this picture was not taken in Red Deer! However, we were greeted by these lovely daffodils in Vancouver while there for a three day conference for First Third Ministry folks, held at the Vancouver School of Theology. It felt like we were witnessing a sneek peek of spring before it reaches us here in full bloom.

Living in the northern hemisphere as we do, the Easter resurrection story unfolds before us as winter melts into spring each year. This is the lived experience that we know well through all our senses: the smell of our gardens soaking up the moisture, the softening of buds on the trees, the sound of songbirds calling to one another, the sight of flowers appearing, and the taste of the first berries of the season. We witness all this and come to know about new life, resiliency, and how all things are connected and dependent upon each other.

The unfolding resurrection story we hear in scripture after Easter tells of Jesus’ appearances, inviting the disciples to draw upon their senses that they might witness and believe. They saw him, heard his voice, touched his wounds, and shared food with him on the beach. As we hear this story again each spring our senses remind us of the divine and the physical woven together in all we do. God’s presence is with us always and nothing, not even death, can separate us from God’s love.

As you use your senses to witness spring bringing new life all around us once again, I hope you take a moment or two in gratitude for the many ways our amazing faith stories reassure us of the sacred in the ordinary and fill us with hope.

Peace and joy,
Nancy