A Letter from Pastor Derek - April
The Cruelest Month
That’s an odd way to talk about April, don’t you think? We always look forward to April; it means Spring is finally here for real. I know, Spring really starts in March, but March is so hit and miss. One moment it feels like or looks like spring, but then - boom – it snows on us! No, most of us associate April with the true Spring, warmer weather, flowers begin to grow, the trees begin to green up, life seems to return to what was barren and dead looking. Three cheers for April.
So, who called it the “cruelest month”? Well, it is a poem from that great American poet T.S. Eliot. In his great work called “The Wasteland” Eliot writes:
“APRIL is the cruelest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
Winter kept us warm, covering
Earth in forgetful snow, feeding
A little life with dried tubers.”
What an odd thing, Eliot wrote, don’t you think? Winter kept us warm? Really? I was cold most of the time. What does he mean here? And why are we having a lesson on American literature in the pastor’s page of the newsletter? I’m getting there, give me a moment.
What I think Eliot is saying is that Spring demands something of us. There is work involved in the experience of Spring. You can’t just let it lie there on top of you, like a blanket of snow, you’ve got to get out and clean up, and tend your gardens and cut your grass and work a little bit. April is cruel because it demands a response from us.
In the same way, Easter is cruel because it demands a response. Easter happens. Resurrection happens. That’s our (usually) April proclamation. But it doesn’t necessarily happen to us if we don’t respond. It doesn’t necessarily happen in us if we don’t embrace it. No one is forced to become Easter people. Even an amazing gift life eternal life, abundant life that Jesus came to tell us all about and live out in front of us and then offer to us with His own blood, His own death and resurrection, won’t be forced on us. We could easily check the date off of our calendars and continue on as we have always been.
Unless we embrace the possibilities of life. Unless we choose to be transformed by the resurrection into a people of hope and love and grace. That’s what’s on offer. Rebirth, like the Spring breaking out all around us, can be within us as well.
Which is another reason why April is the cruelest month – it means change is coming. It means we are in the midst of change. And the problem with change is that something is lost in order to move to the something new. And that’s always hard. It may end up being a great thing, but it is still a loss. We may think that Easter doesn’t require a loss, it’s about receiving something glorious. And yet to receive it there is a lot we have to surrender, a lot we have to give up. And we can find it hard to give up even some of the things that can hurt us the most.
It seems a cruel thing to demand us to change, even if the change will make us better. Even if the change will make us stronger. Winter has been good. Yes, it has. A period of healing and resting and reclaiming has been upon us. But now it is time to see what kind of growth God has in store for us, what kind of life Christ is bringing to us as He walks out of what was into what will be.
It's not cruel, even though it might hurt a little for a while. It is a blessing, a resurrection blessing to be alive in Christ’s living in us and among us. So, please join us for worship this Holy Week and Easter season. And find your way to life.
Shalom,
Pastor Derek