Monday Morning Offering - 69

Image: George Mendoza

Good morning, good God!

On the garden show on the radio, Lord,
a caller asked about a good time for pruning a lilac tree...

The host quickly cautioned the caller
not to prune at this time of year
because the lilac’s buds for next spring are -
already set...

The buds for next spring are here, even now, Lord:
ready for frost, freeze and a coat of snow
to challenge and chill their fragrant future with icy threats…

The lilacs are waiting, Lord,
and will survive whatever December,
January and February may storm upon them
until buds bloom and we will breathe
in their sweet scent
and praise you for their April beauty…

You have set the buds for the coming spring, Lord,
and they will survive and they will blossom
because you care for them,
in season and out of season…


Photo: Dave Delay

Dare I ask,
can I fail to ask this fall:
what buds have you set in me, Lord?
what promise have you embedded in my heart?
what growth have you already budded
for a springtime past the frost of fear and my winter of worry?

You have set the buds on the branches of my life, Lord,
and you will not fail to see me through these shortened days
and my longing for the warmth of spring…

You will shelter the buds you have set in me
even when, foolishly, I brave the cold
with no coat for my soul,
my stubborn anger frustrated and testing the persistence
of your promise and your tender care,
in season and out of season…

What you have budded in my branches, Lord,
you will bring to bloom and I will know, then,
the sweet fragrance of your presence…

So, I offer you this morning, Lord,
the buds you've set within me: your hand ever shaping,
forming me to be the one you made me to be…

I offer you my desire to be open like a bud in springtime,
open to what you have begun
in these crisp fall days…

I offer you my longing for shelter, Lord,
as seasons change and I cannot see
the promise of spring to lift my spirits, to blossom
in beauty beyond what my heart knows how to trust...

Make me mindful, Lord, of others
who struggle to see through winter’s frosted panes
the light of April, May and lilac trees in bloom…

All this I offer this morning, Lord,
and through this day and into night
and all this week ahead…

Amen.

-ConcordPastor