Early this morning, finding myself awake and unable to fall back asleep, I decided take a walk. At one point in my life, pre-dawn runs were a regular occurence, but they have been pretty rare recently. Today, though, I was reminded how much I love the cool and quiet of a city right before it wakes up. As I neared the halfway point of my walk, I felt a breeze waft off the river, and a tree ahead of me rang out with the morning song of birds. A tiny spark of joy ran through my body – I knew the signs of a cooling morning and the first notes of the birds meant that dawn was on the way. As I continued walking, a line from my favorite Christmas hymn popped in my head:
A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices
As yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
I realize I’m in the entirely wrong season here. We left Christmas behind months ago and have made our way into Eastertide. To be honest, though, I’m still having trouble getting in that Easter mood. I look around, and I don’t see a world being remade by a death-conquering Jesus. I see a weary world-
-weary of having nowhere to go
-weary of missing friends and family
-weary of restaurants too empty and hospitals too full
-weary of wondering how rent will get paid or if hours will pick up next week
-weary of figuring out how to do things virtually
Weary of so many things. Just so very weary.
In this weary world, it is hard to see evidence of the earth-shattering, world-remaking resurrection. The love of God coming in the tiny, unsuspecting form of a baby makes a lot more sense to me right now – the world being remade in ways so small we almost miss them. Maybe this makes more sense to me right now because in my family we have an actual new babe to celebrate – my less-than-two-week-old nephew. Nothing beats back despair quite like mooning over pictures of a snuggly, chubby little newborn. In his peaceful face, I see the tiniest signs of hope. I may not know about resurrection today, but I know about God’s love sneaking in.
Prayer
Dear God, open our eyes today to see your love breaking into our world in the tiniest ways so that our eyes will be trained to spot the signs as you remake the world in big ways. Amen
Written by Jessica Means
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