Tuesday, March 19, 2013

 

Is. 42:16-21; Ps. 126; Phil. 3:4b-14; John 12-:1-8

Joseph, Guardian of Jesus

 

Isaiah 43:19 “I will make a way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.”

 

            Wilderness times are like wandering in the Negeb, a desert in southern Israel, west of the Dead Sea. The Negeb receives less than 8” of rain in a year. And God is going to make a river? Here?

            What is so amazing is what happens in the desert when water does come. The silvery, spiny, low-growing plants bloom. Cactus puts out leaves and flowers. Desert frogs emerge after spending ten months burrowed underground. Even 3,000 year old peas found during excavation of Tutankhamen’s tomb have blossomed and produced purple pods of edible peas.

            “Behold, I am doing a new thing,” proclaims God. What miracles could happen when water flows into our wilderness?

O God, our springtime, may we never lose hope in you. Amen

 

• Plant seeds of spring flowers or herbs and begin to water them.