Wednesday, February 17
“Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven…”
Each Christmas, one of my closest childhood friends donates a poinsettia in my name to Edwards Church to decorate our sanctuary. In the spring I plant it in my garden. Over the last four or five years I discovered that the direct sun is where it thrived. The poinsettia plant blossomed last winter in the house. When I dug the plant up before the first frost last fall, I marveled at the size it had become, a small bush. The plant rebels to the confines of the house by dropping all the green leaves. The bush looks like all the others you might see in the yard, dormant for the winter. When the new leaves start to grow back they are bright red.
Wondering about the poinsettia plant and its ties to Christmas I found that there is a legend that proclaims the red blossom to symbolize the Star of Bethlehem. The Wise Men followed the Star to Jesus. The poinsettia plant revealed to me that perhaps, Advent and Lent are tied together. My plant is blooming in Lent so I ask why now? It did not bloom on cue at Christmas so maybe there is a lesson here in Lent. Am I to follow this star to Easter and the Resurrection this year? As I journey through Lent, the blossoms reminds me to rise above the past and bring the Kingdom into the present. The Kingdom can be born and proclaimed with each new day. The challenge is not to be overwhelmed. Perhaps it is in a small way, such as random acts of kindness.
The peace of Christ is with us always. Hope resurrects from death, joy is born into the Spirit, leading to the Kingdom, and finally love is gleaned from all that we hold dear from Christ.
May the Star of Bethlehem guide you to find your kingdom to bring about God’s Kingdom in our world. Amen.
–Janet Sanders