Signs of Life

I saw this written on the chalkboard at a church where we had an Area Cabinet meeting recently. It made me reflect on the signs of life that I see around me.

"What a wondrous time is spring, when all the trees are budding; the birds begin to sing, the flowers start their blooming." (from the song "Pass It On" by Kurt Kaiser)

Spring is upon us! The trees outside my office window are budding! Birds are playing on the branches, singing! Everywhere I look, I see signs of life.

As I write this though, the death-toll from the recent 7.8 magnitude earthquake that devastated Nepal has now reached more than 4,600 and rising.

As I write this, riots continue to rage in Baltimore over the death of yet another black person who was fatally injured while being arrested.

As I write this, a child in Africa is dying of malaria. Another one will die after 30 seconds. And then another...

As I write this, death and devastation continues to happen in our communities and our world.

Where are the signs of life in these settings?

Perhaps the more relevant question to ask is: How can we bring signs of life to these settings? How can we be the signs of life in these places?

"That's how it is with God's love once you've experienced it; you want to sing, it's fresh like  spring, you want to pass it on." (from the song "Pass It On" by Kurt Kaiser)

We just celebrated Easter where we claimed Jesus' triumph over death as our own reality! We are Easter people. So how can we be signs of life where there is only darkness and death? We are people who claim to have experienced God's life giving love and grace. How can we pass it on?

There are ways, my friends. We just have to find them, and act.

Your fellow disciple,
Carlo


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