Seeds of faith

 Its 2:22 on Tuesday afternoon as I walk out my front door my Terrier-Border collie mix meets me with her favorite Frisbee in her mouth. I grab it and sail it through the air past a courtyard full of roses, iris, geraniums and star jasmine. She misses catching it because it was a bad throw and the disc careens into a large Dandelion patch. Several of the spherical seeds explode into the air sending hundreds of parachute like seeds on a new journey in search of a place to sprout and grow.

I turn back to look and catch a sweet fragrance of the star jasmine which is in full bloom. Thousands of tiny star pointed blossoms release their perfume-like aroma into the gentle breeze that meanders through the confines of the courtyard. A ruby throated hummingbird joins me as we both enjoy pushing our faces into the hedge of jasmine. Below me beautifully robed Easter irises parade their purple patterned flower attire down the garden runway. I accidentally bump into a climbing Cecile Brunet rose bush that is dotted every few inches with tightly furrowed rose buds that compete with the jasmine for first place in the fragrance category. 

I pause to listen to a peregrine falcon as it silently but swiftly navigate through a rose arbor in pursuit of a darting sparrow that is determined to get away. A pair of brightly colored yellow oriels perch in the weeping wisteria watching the entire spectacle relieved that the falcon wasn’t chasing after them. Nearby several Humming birds jockey for nectar that has been carefully placed out in a feeder hanging on a nearby pine tree. As I survey the colossal pine a cone randomly topples down releasing several seeds that helicopter down to the ground.

It’s just amazing to me to see all this design, sacred geometry, which our Creator has built into our world.  The dandelion’s spherical shape allows the wind from any direction to lift the parachute shaped seeds high into the air where they will be dispersed to another location. Once there, if they find sun, water and soil then they will sprout and grow. The pine seeds, in a different way, have one lop sided wing that causes them to spiral out and away from their parent tree where by enabling them to find sun, water and soil to grow in.

The flowers too have aromas and colors that attract insects that will do the work of pollination. In fact flowers have color wavelengths that are beyond our visible spectrum but not to specific insects that search them out. These colors can be compared to and are the equivalent of the neon signs that beckon us to enter a storefront when it is open. All these incredible proofs of God’s existence and design were observed only fifteen feet from my front door.

Spring is a wonderful time to watch the sap rise in the trees, flowers bloom and what was once thought of as dead comes back to life. It was during this same time of year that Jesus prophesied “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.” John 12:23,24.

Jesus fulfilled numerous prophecies as He rode into Jerusalem presenting Himself as the world’s final Passover Lamb. Then at the last supper He made a New Covenant, in His blood, where He invited all to dine at His table and to remember not only His sacrifice on the cross but that he rose from the dead. 

The message of Easter is “Christ is Risen!” It’s a message of life for all to share who come to dine at Christ’s table. Creation even sings its songs to our Heavenly Father and refocuses our minds on the glorious things that are in store for us in heaven. The purple of the flowering iris and the sweet aroma of jasmine remind us that death has no longer any hold on us and that Jesus Christ has taken away the sting of death forever. It’s a time to rejoice, sing, jump and cry out to God for the wonderful love He has for us.

Easter is so much more than bunny rabbits and colored eggs. Baskets overflowing with candy don’t come close to the sweetness that Christ has in store for us. We are the apple of His eye and He faithfully loves every single person He has created. So in the end, Jesus became as that grain of wheat that died then came back to life to produce much grain.  Creation declares the glory of God and stands as a witness of His overflowing bountiful goodness.