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“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
and do not return there until they have watered the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
For you shall go out in joy,
and be led back in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you
shall burst into song,
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;
and it shall be to the Lord for a memorial,
for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.” –– Isaiah 55:10-13
Get those mowers tuned up and those blades sharpened, it’s mowing season! Some random advice I received from some random neighbor, some 25 years ago, included the counsel to spread fertilizer around the time of Valentine’s Day. Was it sage advice? I don’t know, but it has seemed to work well enough that I’ve never questioned it. Of course, this necessitates upping my mowing mojo, for greening and growing are to March (in the South) what sweat is to August or baseball is to October. I admire the emerald green of “the carpet,” all newly and neatly trimmed as I leave for church in the morning. Yet, when I return at lunch, I fear I won’t get out there quick enough, and mow fast enough, that evening to avoid having to rake … and I hate to rake!
The annual greening of God’s good earth is boon for some and bane for others –– hearts filled with hope and possibility … or sinuses filled with pollen and misery. Yet, whether Spring’s advent marks your favorite time of year or you’d just as soon savor the heft and security of your favorite blanket “in the bleak midwinter,” there is no denying the brilliance of our Creator when we ponder the journey of the raindrop from the atmosphere into the ground, up through the roots, and out across the veins of the fescue. “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there until they have watered the earth, making it bring forth and sprout…”
The prophet sees God in that journey, and Isaiah wants the reader to sense the same Divine intention as the Word of the Lord descends from the heavens, finds residence in our spirits, and makes its way through our hearts into thoughts, words, and deeds that reflect the steadfast love of the Lord. “…So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose.
As we spy God’s glory in this transformational month of blooms, might we see what God brings to flower, even in this age of rage, as the implanted and nourishing Word of the Lord goes about its work feeding our hearts? “Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall be to the Lord for a memorial, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”
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