Approaching the Feast of The Annuncation

It's the second day of Spring. The high is supposed to be 85 degrees later on. Trees and flowers are in full bloom @ Ault Park and everywhere else around town.


This is March in Cincinnati, really? I bought a Four-Wheel Drive Subaru because the winters here were allegedly quite snowy and icy. Not this year. I'm thinking we'll have snow sometime during Holy Week, but I didn't say (or write) that comment out loud. I'm fine with things just as they are .... climate changes' difficulties and our responses to them not withstanding.

How can this be.... 85 degrees in March? I planted pansies and mowed the lawn on Monday morning. I got a little bit of a sunburn too. It's all a little overwhelming for me.

My confusion is nothing like that of a young Jewish woman, Mary, who received the exciting news of a pending birth from an angelic visitor, Gabriel. God has chosen Mary, an unwed, poor teenager to be the mother of Emmanuel. Mary's youthful courage and trust in God reminds us that God calls us to similarly proclaim the Lord's greatness as we rejoice in The Holy Spirit's sustaining Grace. She's presented with a humongous set of unanswered questions and unnatural conditions. Her response ... trust in God's goodness along with a willingness to move forward obediently and graciously

Here in the midst of an unseasonably warm Lenten season, our lectionary lessons reminds us that our spiritual focus on repentance, fasting, and alms-giving is important but there are joy and unforeseen surprises that happen within our religious tradition too (sometimes coincidentally). We celebrate The Feast of The Annunciation  at this point in time because we liturgically need to know that the Christian life is grounded in Christ's birth, life, passion, death, and resurrection 365 days a year. Christmas emotions, such as the gift of a new job occur in March as much as they do in December.  Holy Week's betrayals and unjust punishments may happen in October as much as they do in April. Christ's resurrection and the possibilities of a newly transformed and reconciled life are available to us at any time and in any place through are faith, friendships, and God's death-defying, Easter-birthing love. 

What sort of Annunciation are you hoping for here in the middle of Lent? What news might come out of nowhere to remind you of Jesus' incarnation as the Son of The Most High? What might unfold if you were to let go of some expectations and control so that God might create something new and creative?

Perhaps you won't get such news from an unworldly visitor. Maybe it will arrive through the words of a dear friend you sharing some delicious lemonade with on one of these warm Spring days. Perhaps you will have a dream that comforts you in the midst of your anxiety. Would a quiet walk at dusk be just what you need for such a proclamation.  Regardless, consider this... life's pleasures and contentment are not dependent upon the weather, how much stuff you possess, or professional goals. "Joy and laughter (like that which Mary experienced with Gabriel) are the gifts of living in the presence of God and trusting that tomorrow is not much worrying about ... when we are serious about living (planting, and growing) a spiritual life we are responsible for the milieu where it can grow and mature." (Henri Nouwen, Renewed for Life, p. 21)

Blessings Along The Way, Jim+