What do ice storms, snow upon snow and Lent have in common?  Well, let me see if I can connect these dots.

On December 11, 2008 a devastating ice storm hit Worcester, MA and the surrounding communities.  Schools were out for the duration of the calendar year.  Many were without power for extended periods.  Simply put, it was a mess!

What a Mess!

Combine the storm with the natural anxiety and busy-ness of the Holiday Season, it’s easy to understand why folks might have been in a collective daze.

Add to this the fact that December, January and February were among the snowiest on record in New England, it’s easy to have allowed the remaining debris from the Ice Storm to fade into distant memory….for a time.

As Spring approaches and the weather grows warmer, the snow (predictably)  recedes and the reminders of the destruction and mess that the ice storm wrought have been thrust into the forefront of our lives (not to mention our front yards!).

Someone stopped by the office at the Church yesterday and wondered how all the pine boughs had come down.  “Was there a wind storm that I missed?”  Nope, these were the boughs that were buried by the snow.  Out of sight, out of mind.  It’s very clear with all who have eyes to see that there’s still lots of work to be done.  It seems to me that recognizing what needs to be done and setting about clearing the yard is at the heart of what a Lenten discipline is all about.

Make no mistake, we’d dearly love to have all the debris of our lives completely cleared by Easter morning so that we can set about an orderly celebration of the miracle of resurrection.  I’d like to suggest that to do so can rob the central event of the Christian story of much of its power.  I think it’s important to remember that the surprise and unexpected reality of Jesus’ resurrection was a powerful part of the experience of the disciples at the first Easter.

And it fell Weekly it Seemed

Regardless of how well we’ve kept our Lenten disciplines to date, we must remember that it’s never too late to keep a Holy Lent.  If we’re doing well in our movement toward holiness, Easter will not come sooner.  If we’ve stumbled (even repeatedly) in keeping our Lenten discipline, the resurrection is still going to happen.  At the risk of mixing metaphors, whether all the debris is out of the yard come the thaw or not, the thaw will come and we can revel in that.  There’s not one thing wrong with continuing to clear the debris of our lives in a post-resurrection reality.

In fact, I see that as the fruit of keeping Lent and living into the challenge of the resurrected life of Jesus Christ in the world.

Easter—Ready or Not…here it comes!!!!!