Dear Church Family,
            I love this season when the daffodils and forsythia are in full bloom.  The yellows are so vivid and bright.  After the winter bleakness, the joy these flowers bring  is palpable. I’ve planted 50-75 daffodils each fall since we moved here, so our yard is now an explosion of color.  I always hold my breath that a late invasion of snow and freezing temperatures will cut short the springtime beauty. 
 
            I used an image of God that I like  in the Maundy Thursday service --God as gardener. Perhaps I like that image because I find puttering in the yard so therapeutic.  The idea is that God exercises dominion over our world and our lives not in some authoritarian, controlling, coercive fashion.  Rather,  God is more like a master gardener who skillfully attends to the needs of living things, providing the appropriate conditions to causing life to flourish, sometimes pruning when necessary, but always directed toward facilitating growth envisioned by the gardener. It is noteworthy that Jesus so often  uses pictures of growing things to express the nature of his kingdom.   The coming to life around us reminds us of the truth that the glory of God is a human being fully alive!
 
            The sermon, “an Open-Ended Easter,”  continues the Easter theme. The scriptures are Acts 5:27-32 and Luke 24:13-35.
 
            There is a work day at church on Saturday, beginning at 9 a.m. for anyone who can give an hour or two.
 
            See you in church,
 
Peace and Joy,
Rich