Morning, friends! This weekend was Earth Day, and the earth was showing many of her spring colors in honor of the celebration (even if some of us are still experiencing snowfall!). In much of the (northern half of the) earth, this is the time we get to see life bursting forth. All the preparation of winter and planting the seeds and tending the ground are now showing the new growth, the beauty, the blooming. What a wonderful part of the life cycle of plants we find ourselves in right now. Those who spend time carefully cultivating garden spaces are seeing the fruit of their work, pushing up through ground, greening the earth, beginning to form all that will mean the next phase of their life cycle. It is good, this whole process of life sprouting up—nourishing and full of beauty. Later in the process will be fruit, and then the shedding of what has done its work, the dropping of seeds to earth to begin the process all over again. There is a beautiful rhythm to it all. One that includes the dark rest of winter, the death of a seed, the unfurling of life within the ground, the rooting, the pushing up to sunlight, the growing taller, stronger, the flowering, the pollination, the fruiting, the nourishing, the letting go. There are so many metaphors wrapped up in the life of something we may rarely give our attention to: these ubiquitous, incredible things we call plants. Scripture loves to use plant imagery: It begins in a garden. It ends in a garden. All throughout the stories, the poetry, the prophecy, the familiar rhythms of plant life are utilized to speak of all kinds of things. Jesus was constantly using this imagery in his parables and other teaching, even calling himself the Vine and his followers the branches—and his Father the Gardener of it all. This week, we’re going to lean into the wisdom we can gather from the botanical imagery around us and in Scripture. What are you aware of in the life of the green and growing world around you right now? In you?

Posted by Jamie Bonilla at 2023-04-24 13:47:16 UTC