In Spring around my home, the birds seem much louder in the morning like they too are rejoicing in the new spring air. The wattle trees are in full bloom, followed by red bottle bushes which provided an abundance of food for the bird life. Even the evergreen trees seem to look healthier, after the recent rain has washed away the dust from the August winds.
New sapling begins to shoot on the plants in my garden bringing forth new growth and wonderful surprises of what has survived, due to my neglect of the garden during the winter months.
2020 has been hard year with bush fires earlier in the year, COVID and with-it isolation especially amongst the elderly, emotional and financial hardship for those who have been stood down.
We are now learning to live and work in a pandemic with the constant changes and challenges it brings. For me, the challenges of being a church that is scattered no longer able to meet as a community, the loss and grief it brings with not being able to connect to my church family regularly on Sunday morning.
But COVID brings new opportunities, more time for contemplative prayer, like sitting in silence at the beach watching the waves, experiencing the warmth of the sun and fresh breeze, that comes across my face. Reminding me that I can feel the breeze but not see it, just like I can experience the Holy Spirit, gently guiding me to listen to the quiet voice of God in this moment.
This Spring brings with it, more than ever for me this year, the promise from God of a new growth, that God is present even during a pandemic, new opportunities to connect with scripture and prayer.
A time to be connected to the world that God created, to spend time with nature in contemplative prayer, waiting in silence, for God presence, a deeper understanding of my sinful nature and that I am renewed each time by the blood of Jesus to a new creation to begin again. It provides for me a renewal of a deeper commitment to God a new beginning of my journey of faith.
I hope that spring brings for you a new renewal awakening.