It’s a particularly windy day today, and many of the new tender green leaves that have barely sprouted from the branches are losing their battle to hold on. Dust clouds swirl the little leaves around my yard. Spring is often characterized as dainty or soft, but I find that it is more often explosive and loud. I left for a long weekend work trip in March, and all the trees in my yard were bare and brown. When I arrived home 4 days later, everything was lush and green. Life came shouting out in all directions from every branch and vine. Tiny flowers push up through the drought-hardened dust to cover the neighborhood with rich colors and blossoms. Seemingly overnight, my yard went from harsh and dull to a shaded secret garden filled with birds and butterflies. Today, all that new life is being threatened and battered by nothing more than a strong gust of wind.
Everything about life on Earth is fragile, and we have basically no control over any of it.
This is a reality we do not like to dwell on. Human life, like all life in nature, is always one strong gust of wind away from being gone. This is painful, and our pain comes out in anger, where we try to manipulate and dominate the world and the people around us. Or it comes out in fear, where we hide and withdraw from people and the world. To over-power or under-engage is to disregard what we as humans were made for.
Every person was made to be loved and to love as loved. We are invited to surrender to the utter fragility and vulnerability of this life of love. To be carried on the wind of the Spirit of the living God who holds all things together. To hold loosely to the things that do not last forever, to love them well and release them well. This is only possible because we are not the center, and we are not in charge. And that is very good news.
The God who is love, who expresses belonging value through grace and compassion, mercy and faithfulness, is the center and is in charge. The God, who is love, is all powerful and all good. This God invites us to surrender to the utter fragility of our human condition, and to entrust ourselves fully to the one who is able to do more than we can think or ask or imagine. This God offers us life and life abundantly, even though we are dust.
I want you to remember, this is not said with a tone of self-deprecation or self-pity. This is a testimony of joy and relief. We are not in charge! Hallelujah! We don’t have to cling to what we think is the source of life, like the little leaf on the branch. We are not the ones holding on for dear life. We are the ones being held! Our mortality and fragility are precious to God, because all of who we are is precious to God. We are held secure, even in the winds and the storms of life, so we can rest.
This is the invitation of the Gospel, the invitation of the New Command that is sealed by the New Covenant in Jesus. We, beloved little dustlings, are offered the same call to action that Peter gave those who heard all that Jesus had done for them for the first time at Pentecost: “When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.” (Acts 2:37-39)
We were loved first, so we are forgiven, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, we experience God’s love firsthand. By that love, we are inspired and equipped to go out and love as loved. This love frees us from the anger that seeks to dominate and the fear that seeks to withdraw. It sets us free to live and love in genuine peace and joy. Life is fragile, but love is secure. So hear this promise of everlasting, secure love in Psalm 103:15-18, “The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more. But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children— with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts.”
Now listen to it first person from God’s heart to yours:
Your life [insert your name here ____________], is like grass, it is bright and beautiful like the wild flowers in the field. And just as quickly as it flourishes, the wind blows it over, and it is gone. Generations move forward, and memories fade. But I, the Lord your God, do not forget, but from everlasting to everlasting my love is with you - from before the foundation of this world was laid, I loved you and I will never stop loving you. ____________, I will help you by my very Spirit to restore and align you to my way of living and loving, for your sake and your loved ones, for generations! Let me love you so that you can love as loved, and this will be your story and your inheritance in this life and the one to come.
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