My family went off to see (and ski) some mountains and when we got back to T-town spring was already in full swing. I know this because that warm, damp, pollen-filled Oklahoma air smacked me right in the face as soon as I walked outside.
The church season called Lent takes its name from an Old English word for spring, but between daffodils, lilies and other early blooming flowers, I think many of us associate spring more strongly with Easter and the weeks that follow than with Lent itself. As usual the traditional church calendar finds itself just a little out of step with our modern secular calendar.
Meanwhile the big cinder block church around the corner from our house has been announcing HE IS RISEN since at least Ash Wednesday. I sort of want to walk in there like a church curmudgeon and yell “but it’s still Lent!”
But then this particular church aligns all its signage with the secular rather than church year. So around Valentine’s Day it’s white and pink, for Halloween and Thanksgiving it’s brown and orange, and when Joy is decked out in Advent blue, they’re letting the Christmas colors fly a month early.
And honestly… I’m okay with all that. At churches like Joy we put a lot of effort every Lent and especially Holy Week pretending we don’t know where this story is headed. But we do: spring has sprung, just as surely Jesus has sprung from the grave—even if it feels like just a few days too early to celebrate!
Pastor Jon
