“Woman, why are you weeping? Whom do you seek?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabboni.” John 20:15-16

The morning was amazingly still as I walked out to pick up the Times. I felt as if I were piercing its silence. But the quiet was good, holy, and sacred for it invited me to see God’s world anew. Awakened to God’s creation around me, I began to see with fresh eyes. It was then that I noticed how many different varieties of daffodils were watching me, how many songs the birds were singing, how many trees were reaching out, their budding branches moving to and fro in the gentle breeze. God’s invitation beckoned all the more as I discovered the tips of peonies breaking the soil, their tiny reddish promise barely appearing. And of course, the splendid light cascading down upon it all, caressing each and every member of God’s creation with the promise of a new day caught my eye. Despite all the differences before me, the multiplicity of God’s garden, all were basking in the same light. The morning sun united all.

Mornings are always welcome. We awaken to discover the promise of a new day, a new beginning. Yet many of our days are spent without promise. We so busily begin our day, rushing to pick up the paper and hurrying off to tasks that we fail to notice God’s very presence in our midst. But when we stop long enough to enter the silence, to enter the stillness of the morn, we find ourselves immersed in God’s promise among creation. It is in that place we “welcome happy morning” seeing “earth her joy confess[ing], clothing her for spring.”

Today, the light of a new day has come. With the newness of this Easter, we find ourselves basking in the hope and life that comes in the Resurrected Christ. While the rest of the world marches on, failing to notice all that is breaking forth, I hope you remember to pause, reflect, and enter into God’s passion for you. Let the song of the bird, budding of the flower, and sunlight of a new day come to you as you walk into God’s garden. Let your life be more than a series of days numbered upon the earth. Let it be a part of God’s creation, always budding forth in the morning, full of promise, grace and mercy through Christ. For “all that now is fallen [will rise] to life again; bring again our daylight: day returns to thee!”

Alleluia! Christ is risen! The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!

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