There is Still Time
Because I travel all over the country, I sometimes feel like I move from season to season in no particular order. In the last three weeks I have been to California (where the spring pansies and tulips were in full bloom), Alaska (where the snow-covered mountains seemed in full bloom as the winter sun shone off of them), and Louisiana (where it felt like summer to me with 75 degree temperatures each day).
Traveling is good, but so is coming home to Buffalo and to the pattern of seasons that I have grown up with. It is March and that means that there is still some snow on the ground, even as the temperatures try to warm us up. Here in Buffalo, we all know, deep in our bones, that there is a long way to go before spring arrives — more snow to shovel, more cold to dress for, more time before the flowers begin to show themselves.
Because I grew up here, I know not to anticipate too much. Although I am anxious to see what blooms in my newly-planted perennial garden, I know I must be patient. This time of year (especially now that Daylight Savings Time has been moved up), it is hard not to wish for what is to come. But each time I experience that pull to live in the future, a little voice reminds me "to everything there is a season . . ."
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die;
A time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal;
A time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn, and a time to dance;
(Ecclesiastes 3:1-4)
There is time for everything. I like that Lent is in the middle of this in-between-seasons time. If spring were already here, it would be hard for me to still be in the midst of Lent. For me, the cold and snow, with the glimmers of spring around the corner, help me to live in the Lenten season and not get ahead of myself. It would be easy for me to jump ahead to Easter and forget to take advantage of the opportunity for cleansing, and purification, and change.
Matt Maher wrote a song called 40 Days. In it he brings us to these images . . .
Forty days to wander
Forty days to die to self
Forty days to remember the Pascal Sacrifice.
Forty days to discover his passion calls us to new life.
We don't have forty days left, but we do have all the time we need to prepare our hearts and minds and lives for Easter. There is plenty of time to pray, days left for fasting, opportunities for almsgiving. We have the chance to keep our Lenten sacrifice, even if we have fallen short in the past few weeks. And, most importantly, we have time left to "die to self" and find ways to tune into the implications of the paschal mystery for our lives. There is still time.
Related Link:
Lenten Practices, Catholic Update
Spirit Compass reflections are developed in partnership
with the Center for Ministry Development.