Crosstalk: 'Spring flowers speak of new life'
I don't know about you, but the sight of the first daffodil always gives me more hope than I can possibly describe in words, writes Fi Iddon, Associate Vicar of Trinity Churches, Meole, Shrewsbury.
There's something about their shape that seems to trumpet, to herald the approach of spring. Every year I'm teased by my family for the excitement I feel but at various points in my life - especially the difficult ones - their presence has spoken to me of the hope that better times lie ahead. I'll never forget finding the first daffodil nestled beside a grave deep in the 2021 lockdown, and experiencing a hope they stirred me to tears. Spring flowers speak of new life, of transformation, and also of something more.
Each year they die, and they come back to life. That new life of spring is such a powerful, yet completely incomplete metaphor for the hope we have in Jesus.
Martin Luther once wrote "God had written the promise of resurrection not in books alone but in every leaf of springtime." As we enter the season of Lent, and begin to think about Easter and new life, we can remember the message that the spring flowers teach us. There is a rhythm of life. It may feel like winter in our own lives, but we can trust that spring will come. In the wonderful book "The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe" we are reminded that Aslan, who acts as a metaphor for Jesus, will one day come and banish winter - and death - for all time. If you would like to know more about this, then why not visit your local church? We would love to share that life-changing hope with you.
Fiona Iddon, Associate Vicar of Trinity Churches, Meole, Shrewsbury.
