It's mid-March, almost spring, and I notice that without planning to, I am wearing green, not a bright or even obvious green. It's a subtle green. I take a short walk, and notice also that despite the cold today, the trees and bushes are also taking on a subtle shade of green. Tiny leaves join the yellow of the forsythia. A patch of bright yellow daffodills marks off a corner yard, announcing things to come. This is the month that comes in like a lion and leaves like a lamb. By the time you read this we are entering April, season of hope, of promise. But never that alone. Eliot knew April could also be a cruel month. In every life there comes time of sorrow, of disappointment, of struggle. Sometimes this happens in April, despite its signs of renewal.

In April we will join in joyful and thoughtful worship. We will sing and speak, listen and think, feel and wonder together. We will continue creating our life together, with its work, its play, its education, its community, with our concern for ourselves, each other, our families and the world beyond our doors and walls. There will be light and exciting times as we combine fundraising and fun-raising at our Talent Auction. We will begin a letting go and saying goodbye to our beloved Rev. Beth, whose interim ministry with us will end in June. We feel so much gratitude to her for all she has given us and wish her so very well in her future ministry, but it will not be easy to begin saying goodbye.

This month we will honor holy times, Earth Day, Passover, Easter. Each of these traditions tells a story of a rising up. One hymn proclaims this rising as the praise of passover, the resurrection of Easter hope. Yet each of these holy times also contains a shadow. Earth beings are born in darkness. In the midst of the Passover story is much suffering and a long time wandering in desert. Easter is a story of rebirth that is foreshadowed by suffering and death, yet ends in promise and hope.

What are we to make of these life contrasts? We will think on these things, as we join in companionship and worship in April.

In faith, with love,

Nina