Green grass. Many people have remarked to me about how especially green the grass seems this spring season.

Walking across green grass in bare feet tickles my toes. Miles of green grass seem to make the yellow dandelions stand taller and dance more gracefully.

When I was a child, I would lie on green grass in the evening, stare up at the dark, midnight sky and count the stars. (It always seemed laying on green grass helped me count more heavenly stars!)

As an adult, I love to find a quiet part of the world with soft, green grass and lay my bear blanket upon it, where I carve out time to listen to the rustling grass, the birds singing, the planes overhead – space to destress and just ‘be’. Or I read or write or simply watch the world go by, the best I can. A time to refresh and re-energize.

Green grass. Aside from considering getting out the lawnmower to cut it, and the weed-whacker to trim it, do we give green grass much thought?

Thank you for sharing your beauty through the sounds (and sights) in our midst….the birds chirping in the early morning and at mealtime around the feeders….the perfumed air of lilacs and lillies…..the gentle breezes that carry with them the buzz of a bee…..even the whirring of lawn mowers in the neighborhood….Thank you for the reminders of the joys in the world around us, even when life itself may be a struggle. I am savoring these gentle moments of the day.

Think of the opportunities and possibilities any new day offers. Think how that makes you feel. Hopefully, it makes you feel energized and motivated, and just plain good! Sometimes it may just be something simple you are able to accomplish. For example, we have a variety of bird feeders in our backyard for all types of birds – bluejays, cardinals, sparrows, woodpeckers and others. We recently added some new bird feeders – specifically for finches. The next day, my husband called me and told me there were so many finches around the feeders, he could not count them all! It must have been a wonderful sight! That afternoon, I sat on the back porch and was serenaded with a chorus of song from our many feathered friends! I was feeling a bit sad (and sorry for myself) that I was unable to see them fluttering around the feeders; but their music sounded beautiful to my ears! It seemed they were singing with gratitude! I am grateful for this new day, the first day of a brand new month, and the new music I heard!

Easter morning is but a nightfall away. It will be a new day come dawn. Our Lenten journey has come to an end. Remain hopeful for tomorrow.

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I love to walk. When I walk around my neighborhood, I do not always use my white cane, I feel I know the steps by heart, well enough in good weather. I use my white cane more often when I am out and about, like Jacobsburg Park. I have a crazy special GPS head/neck band (that I love!) I use when I am walking in spaces like downtown Bethlehem or Nazareth. Today I used my white cane when I was doing pastoral care visits because the facilities were new to me. Because the light was so bright today, I also was wearing my dark glasses to help mitigate the glare. After the visits, I was outside waiting for my ride, I was holding my white cane slightly in front of me on my right side, when suddenly someone said ‘hello’ (I was startled), then touched my left hand and pressed money into it. I began to speak, but my words only hit the air with no ears of another to hear. I never realized how I must appear to others. We are still in Lent and making our way to the Cross. Wherever we walk, however we walk, nothing could compare to the road that Jesus walked more than 2,000 years ago.

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Here we are in the midst of spring, a breath away from the start of Holy Week. What words will we use to describe the anguish and the joy and the surprise? As we live through and imagine the story again, will we hear the stones cry out? What will they be saying to us? Will we feel the holiness?

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These past several days have been full of light. I love it…and I don’t. The little vision I have that already is constantly blurry, is greatly affected by the amount of light surrounding me. The more light there is, the less I can manage. I do wear appropriate dark glasses to help cut the glare. Sometimes even when I am preaching on a Sunday morning when the light in the sanctuary is overwhelming.

This is not so good for a person who loves to be outdoors and whose indoor spaces are designed to allow abundant light to fill those spaces. In spite of my personal love-hate relationship with light, I will continue to speak of God’s abundant light, and encourage others to ‘stay in the light’ when they are journeying through a difficult time…and hopefully, through my ministry, I will be able to serve as a light for others.

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Uncanny how one does not have to see to be able to know that it is spring – the sweet smell of hyacinths, the singing of the birds and the warmth of the sun let us know that spring surrounds us. The landscape is changing, even as I write this post and soon the world will be in full colorful, beautiful bloom! Here are a few more Lent reflections and pictures…

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A new month full of all kinds of possibilities! Lent is moving right along, with all of our giving up and giving more! Here are a few more photo reflections….

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For those who may be just jumping in this blog, I am posting photos with reflections as I journey through Lent. We are about halfway through the journey….join me.

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