St. Helen’s Quiet Garden Spring Devotional

April rains have watered the soil and the promise of warming temperatures and the loveliness of springtime in May, lifts our spirits. The Quiet Garden is generously strewn with new growth pressing upwards to the sun; the results of human labour in concert with our Creator! The ichthus path is clear and the benches invite a moment’s rest, holy contemplation and fervent prayer.

We are in celebration mode!  Christ is Risen, Alleluia!  Liturgically the Easter season continues for 50 days, through to Pentecost(this year on June 9) but Resurrection is something we, as Christians, are challenged to live every day.  Our Easter proclamation does not deny the harsh realities of our personal circumstances or of the world. Whatever is happening in our lives, ‘Alleluia’ can remain in our hearts, if not always on our lips.

Easter joy is present in each heartbeat of Creation,  inhalation and exhalation, in the warm winds, a rolling tide, in each bud bursting forth and every emerging shoot, in the dawn chorus and the rosy hues of the setting sun. Every thought, every word, an act of caring or of kindness, each relationship, each sacrament of life can be a reflection of that joy as we choose to praise the Lord.  Our proclamation doesn’t mean that everything is perfect. We know that change is needed, personally and globally …our attitudes, behaviour, priorities. But Easter, Resurrection, is God’s invitation to transformation. The Resurrection of the living God is understood and experienced not as a once-upon-a time event. It isn’t something Christians remember, it is something we live and breathe.   We pray, whisper, sing songs and shout to the sky…Alleluia, alleluia…Praise the Lord! Think on these things!