Introduction

This article is the May 2010 installment of my monthly message in the parish newsletter for Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Beatrice, Neb.

The Old Saying

Somewhere in the dusty recesses of our memories rests the time when we first learned the saying, “April showers bring May flowers.” This year our April has featured more sunshine than showers, but the May flowers are here anyway, thanks to the snows of November, December, January …, well, you get the idea.

It helps to turn aside from the rush of our days, the blur of our schedules, and come to a rest, a stop. Put your life into park for a little while, turn off the engine, hide the keys, go outside and close the door behind you. Spend some time watching the tender young tree leaves quiver in the breeze, listen to the whushing of the wings of waterfowl as they fly overhead, close your eyes and turn your face to the heavens and feel the warmth of the sun shining upon your face.

These are the sensations of the season, this time of year poised between the ice of winter and the fire of summer. As the Philosopher reminds us, “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven ….” (Ecclesiastes 3:1, NRSV)

A Time and a Purpose

Aside from the calming of our hearts, the soothing of our souls, the relaxing of our bodies that come when we pause and revel in the beauty of this season, we can use these sensations to remind us of the graces of the God who has made us and all of the creatures in this world.

Just as May falls between winter and summer, we live our lives between two times as well. We have been born into this world, born into sin. But in a way, our lives here and now are another time in the womb. When we reach full term, we will be born into the kingdom of God. There is nothing more “in between the times” than that, making our whole existence, from birth to death, a kind of May. Our lives are bursting into bud from the nourishment of the cross and the empty tomb. But still we have not yet emerged full-grown into the life eternal that awaits us in heaven.

Praying the Psalms

When we gather for worship and come to the time to hear God’s Word, it’s easy for us to glide by the Psalms. But just as we can gain a sense of God’s grace by admiring his handiwork in creation, we can recover gratitude for his blessings by listening to the psalms as prayers of God’s people and indeed, his whole creation.

Consider these few verses from the psalms appointed for our worship this month:

+ “Praise the LORD from the earth,
you sea monsters and all deeps,
fire and hail, snow and frost,
stormy wind fulfilling his command!”
(Psalm 148:7, May 2)

+ “The earth has yielded its increase;
God, our God, has blessed us.
May God continue to bless us;
let all the ends of the earth revere him.”
(Psalm 67:6–7, May 9)

+ “The LORD is king! Let the earth rejoice;
let the many coastlands be glad!”
(Psalm 97:1, May 16)

+ “O LORD, how manifold are your works!
In wisdom you have made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.”
(Psalm 104:24, May 23)

+ “When I look at your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars
that you have established;
what are human beings
that you are mindful of them,
mortals that you care for them?
Yet you have made them
a little lower than God,
and crowned them with glory and honor.”
(Psalm 8:3–4, May 30)

Praying our Lives

Another saying—this one from St. Paul—reminds us, “Pray without ceasing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:17) Sometimes this word seems to tell us we ought to go through life with hands folded and heads bowed. But remember that the full sentence in Paul’s letter says, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (vv. 16– 18). This calls us to live with hearts tender and minds open to the graces of God. And when they touch us, we can say, “Thanks be to God!”