Christ is Risen! Indeed He is Risen!
I think it is safe to say that our day to day lives seem to be mimicking a typical Michigan spring weather forecast. There are days where the news seems bleak, causing our minds to cloud up and our hearts to become cold. But then, almost in an instant, there comes a morning like the one I am experience as I write this, where we are uplifted by a word or story of hope, and the bright rays of sunshine through the cloudiness of our mind, changing our disposition almost instantaneously.
It is actually this morning’s beautiful weather that I wanted to talk about in this writing. I took my morning cup of coffee outside with me today and began to walk around the perimeter of my back yard, which comes up against a protected piece of land that is run by the state. Just over my property line, there is this incredibly massive several hundred-year old oak tree that is really a sight to behold. It has about a 6-foot base, and the branches that come off are big enough to be considered large trees in themselves! As I stood there marveling at one of God’s creations, and my mind began to drift from the troubles of the Coronavirus, I noticed that despite the normal sound of cars being absent, the outside air was still completely filled with unfamiliar noises. The loud but beautiful calls of hundreds of chirping birds, dozens of squirrels rustling in the leaves, and numerous other animals running around the yard as if nothing was unusual was happening around them. No cares…no worries…no fear. It was beautiful!
Standing in the midst of God’s creation, I began to think of the Psalm that most Orthodox Christians who attend Great Vespers should know by heart: Psalm 103. In those beautiful words written by the Prophet David, we are reminded how God literally holds every detail of our live, both the good and the bad, in his hands.
The Psalm begins: “Bless the Lord O My Soul, O Lord my God you are very great!”. Right off of the bat, we are reminded that no matter how our day begins and ends, whether it was a good day or one that is full of difficulty and strife…we were created to bless and to give thanks to God for EVERYTHING…even the trials!
“He sends the springs into the valleys…they flow between the hills. They give drink to every beast of the field…the wild donkeys quench their thirst. By them the birds of the air have their habitation, they sing among the branches.”
I heard that verse about the birds come to life this morning! All of creation sings God’s praises daily, because they instinctively know that God will take care of them. He gives them what they need each and every day, yet we are often too filled with worry that God will not take care of His Greatest Creation: You and I!
Our Lord reminded us in his earthly ministry: “Do not worry about your life…what you will eat, what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?”
After listening to those words…how can we possibly spend a single moment worrying about a pandemic?
New Baby Birds on the Patio of the Church
“He waters the mountains from His upper chambers; the earth is satisfied with the fruit of Your works. He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, and vegetation for the service of man, that he may bring forth food from the earth, and wine that makes glad the heart of man…oil to make his face shine, and bread to strengthen man’s heart! The trees of the plain are full of sap, the cedars of Lebanon which He planted, where the birds make their nests; as for the stork, she makes her home in the fir trees.”
That big oak tree that the Lord planted to be admired in by back yard, the one that I am too busy to appreciate and full of life’s worries to notice, serves as a home for birds. It provides shade for us during the hot days. The wood and foliage from it, is used to make nests, and provides food for some animals to eat. All of those precious details of life that God gives His creation, that we are, for at least a majority of the time, too caught up in the world to notice…
How can we worry about a pandemic?
As the psalm continues, David turns his gaze up towards the heavens: “You made the moon to mark the seasons. The sun knows it’s time for setting. You made the darkness and it is night, when all of the beasts of the forest creep forth. The young lions roar for their prey, seeking their food from God! When the sun rises, they gather away and lie down in their dens. Man goes forth to his work and to his labor until the evening…”
All of creation, both visible and invisible, continually and instinctively seek after God for nourishment, except his greatest creation: Mankind. We think too much of the things of the earth, instead of focusing on the things above. We have to begin to mimic the young lions in the psalm, and “seek our food from God”. Both the physical food, but more importantly, the spiritual food that comes from God and from Him alone.
Brothers and sisters, when we take a minute to pause from the chaos of the world, we are easily reminded of all of the things that God has done for us. In moments of silence and stillness, when we are finally able to breathe, we can naturally belt out the next verse in the psalm: “O Lord how manifold are thy works…in wisdom have you made them all!”
We as Orthodox Christians should be adding this psalm, which is actually called to be read every single day in the Orthodox Church at the Vespers service, to our prayer rules at home. We need these kinds of daily reminders, that God has control over every aspect of creation…even the trial of the pandemic which has descended upon earth. He doesn’t create evil, but He does sometimes allow it to happen for the benefit of mankind…the likes of which goes beyond our comprehension.
Despite not knowing God’s Divine Plan, we do have one assurance that has allowed mankind to survive and thrive through much worse in our history: We have a God who loves us. Even if there are those that curse his name…that scream out at him in anger and rejection because of an illness or misfortune that has befallen them…God’s love is unconditional. He showed it to us just a few weeks ago, when He willingly went to suffer on the Cross for our sake, destroying death itself through His Holy Resurrection!
As we continue to grow in our faith, we cannot allow this pandemic to sway us. If we need a reminder of God’s love for us, there is an easy way to get it! Go outside, stop, listen, and understand.
Christ is Risen!