Small Talk
March 2016
The light-time is growing and so is my eagerness to hear, “Play ball!” Pitchers and catchers already have reported to Spring Training and are loosening up their arms and legs. Muscle-memory is returning and it’s getting easier to squat behind the plate or to make a smooth move toward first without balking.
Seasons take their turn in ordinary life, in sport, and in the church. We’re nearing the end of Lent. It’s a full season of reflection, and before we get to the joy of Easter morning, we have some tough time to face.
Holy week begins with a celebration as Jesus is welcomed into Jerusalem with shouts of Hosanna. It quickly turns to remembering Jesus’ final meal with his followers, his betrayal by one of them, and the torture and execution that follow. It’s a dark tale, one we remember solemnly, but it is not the end of the story.
Easter breaks through all the pain, failure, ridicule, and terror that the world can manifest. It brings relief, victory, hope, and promise. It’s a great gift that can energize us, loosening up our hearts and hands so that we are eager to reach out, to embrace, and to offer ourselves in service to God’s world.
It’s an ordinary changing of season, and yet it brings the most extraordinary awareness that we too are alive! Listen for the Still-speaking voice of God breathing and whispering and calling you to embrace the cost and joy of discipleship. In this moment, in this place, God has enlivened and empowered you. How amazing and humbling is that? It inspires me, and I pray it inspires you too.
We are agents of Divine mystery and miracle of life, right here and right now. We reflect God’s image. We care for God’s world. Indeed, we change the world just by being part of it. And that is true for every person with whom we share this beautiful and fragile blue orb floating in the midst of creation. Easter is coming and it makes everything possible. This is our hope; this is our joy; this is our story.
For someone who really, really loves baseball, I’d say it’s better than a no-hitter and more awesome than a grand slam. It’s God’s perfect game.
Faithfully,
Jill
The Reverend Jill H. Small