It doesn’t matter if you are a regular church-goer or not. There is an almost primal call to return to the crèche on Christmas morning, or the somber reflections of Ash Wednesday, or the glory of Christ’s empty tomb on Easter. What can explain such an urge? Some would say that we long for new beginnings in the dead of winter or in early spring. Some would say like the Psalmist (139:13) that we have a desire to check in with our spiritual origins, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.” We think all of these urges are about rediscovering your spiritual roots.
What do you think? Which of these spiritual realities calls out to you, especially when you need a time and place to be refreshed? We learned a lot about these inner calls by watching a plant cutting on our living room window sill. At first it was a reminder of the isolation each of us feels when something goes terribly haywire in life. “I am cut off. Life is just not possible any more. Sure, I could last a few days in this tiny bit of water. But then I will be forgotten forever.”
Then it happens. The sun calls. Our inmost being begins to move and small roots appear. Then more roots and more life follow. So take the time to turn toward the Sun and REDISCOVER YOUR SPIRITUAL ROOTS at Christmas, on Ash Wednesday and on Easter. Try visiting the nearest church, or standing before an outdoor shrine. And visit more than once, like the cutting that soaks up lots of water… Or think about the parish where you were baptized and the devotions of your grandparents. All of these efforts can stir up new life in you.
And behind all your efforts, God is urging you and waiting for you. So join us at the messy but glorious place we call church, “that out of his glorious riches God may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your heart through faith… that being rooted and established in love, you may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ. (Eph. 3 16-18)
PS. The graphic is based on a prayer card invitation that will be used in the Diocese of Springfield, MA to welcome people during Lent 2016.