"Consider the Ravens..."

May in Minnesota is my favorite. It's finally warm enough to put the heavy winter coat away and just keep a sweater handy. Everything turns green again and then all of the sudden, the flowers pop up everywhere declaring an end to the threat of that 4-letter "s" word we're so fond of in the northland. Today on my run was the first time this year I've seen lilac bushes opening. The tulips have been around for a while, but lilacs are the unofficial start to summer -- and they're baaaaack! But today I noticed something I hadn't before: here in MN, we tend to grow lilacs either in the alley or along a side of our property for privacy, whereas other flowers like tulips we tend to showcase in the front yard. I'm not much of a gardener, but it struck me that this parallels with the season we're in right now.  For many of us, our journey has been filled with relatively consistent sidewalks, front yards we're familiar with, and traffic signs ...

Pastor Ben Stuart said in a sermon last year, "Ambiguity breeds anxiety." I don't know how the COVID-19 crisis has impacted you personally, but one of the words I keep hearing from friends is how anxious they have become, or how much the uncertainty of all of this is wearing on them. But what I've been pondering is whether or not it would actually  be helpful to our emotions if we had the end-date and it was secure. Now, by all means, I am praying for and doing my part to support those battling the illness and its spread, but we're seeing a growing tension in quarantine. We all want out, but no one knows when it will be allowed and in the meantime, those rebelling against restrictions are creating risk that the rest of us are sacrificing to mitigate. We have the hope of eventual freedom, but no set "go date." In so many ways, this is the life of faith and just like tests of faith spiritually, this physical crisis is testing our character and reveali...