Spring in New England means it is time to start sealing all the cracks in the road and filling in the potholes. 

In this season of thawing, where we begin to look around for sprouting daffodils and look forward to the mercies of fairer weather, we begin to pack away the trappings of winter, heavy coats go deeper into the closet and storm windows down into the cellar. Before long it will be barbecues and long days at the beach.

But the roads around here do not forget winter so easily. I see traces of tar sealing cracks and patches of fresh asphalt filling potholes and I remember that we are shaped by the challenges we weather. Things are breaking open around Jesus from beginning to end. The heavens tear open and God’s spirit descends on him at baptism and as he breathes his last, the very ground shakes, rocks are split, and the temple curtain is torn in two. 

This is what happens when God comes to our world. Things crack open. The lingering question is whether we have the courage to await and see what grows in that new space, or whether we feel somehow compelled to pave it over. God does not need to tear the earth down to rubble, but the spirit needs some cracks. And if we can bear them, we will be a part of all those new things God is doing in our midst. 

Prayer: Crack open our old ways God and make a little room for your Spirit to fall afresh on us. Amen