Joyful Spring Greetings to you…
‘Joyful Spring greetings to you all in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour!’
It is a joy to write my first blog for the 2017 spring season. I don’t know about you but for me spring has officially become my new favorite season. It wasn’t always this way. I used to appreciate autumn the most. I remember living and ministering in a country parish and I loved driving through countryside during autumn and sight of vineyards and orchards turning golden orange was an amazing sight and those sights been supplanted in my estimation since I came to live in the ‘big smoke.’ Having lived in the suburbs for over a decade I have kind got to like the Spring season. I’ve grown to appreciate the tulips and the Daffodils as they give us the first splash of outdoor color in 6 months. I’ve grown to appreciate the trees and the shrubs as they put out their supple, delicate, and slightly waxy new leaves. And who could argue with the flowers and the trees and the leaves and the fragrances of spring?
So for me now spring is the best season of all but then the more I think about spring and other natural seasons of winter, spring, summer and autumn; the more I am reminded about the spiritual seasons in our lives. And the gospel truth is that during our life time we will encounter and experience many seasons on our journey through life and the writer of the book of Ecclesiastes reminds us that every season of life has a purpose.
And praise be to God we are reminded in the scriptures that in all seasons of our lives God is with us. So as we begin this season of spring my prayer is that this season spring may be for a season of joy for you all. Joy is a gift from God. The root word for joy in the Greek is “chara”, which is closely related to the Greek word for grace “charis”. Joy comes when we are aware of God’s grace. Joy is a gift of God and also a response to the gifts of God.
The Prophet Nehemiah said in Nehemiah 8:10, “the joy of the Lord is your strength!”
For us living on this side of the scriptural stories we know that knowing Jesus brings joy into our daily lives. In John 15:9-11, Jesus says “I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!”
Romans 15:13 says “I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.”
May you be filled with the joy of the Lord this spring and may it continue to flow in you and through you unto others so that they too may come to know and experience the joy of the living Son of God, Jesus Christ, our constant companion and friend through every seasons of our lives.
Peace and blessings
Rev. Dhirendra Narayan
