Another beautiful day for the end of March, Father! Glorious sunshine and wonderfully mild temperatures. Thank You for Your bounteous blessings!
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Spring is in full swing here in central Ohio! Our crocuses have come and are pretty much gone. Now our daffodils are coming on strong. They have just started blooming the last couple of days (today’s pic is one cluster of ours!)
I was curious as to how the daffodil got its name and after a little digging found a pretty mundane answer, but I did find something else pretty interesting! I found an article in The Door, (<<click here to read the entire article) a publication from the Oxford Diocese of the Anglican Church in England. It was entitled, The Lenten Lily, because as I discovered, the daffodil is also known as the lent lily.
The Revd. Dr. Teresa Morgan, a member of the team in the Littlemore Benefice, shared a poignant devotional using a poem by A.E. Housman as a springboard. Here is a portion of it, along with the poem in its entirety.
The Lent Lily
’Tis spring; come out to ramble
The hilly brakes around,
For under thorn and bramble
About the hollow ground
The primroses are found.
And there’s the windflower chilly
With all the winds at play,
And there’s the Lenten lily
That has not long to stay
And dies on Easter day.
And since till girls go maying
You find the primrose still,
And find the windflower playing
With every wind at will,
But not the daffodil,
Bring baskets now, and sally
Upon the spring’s array,
And bear from hill and valley
The daffodil away
That dies on Easter day.
Housman’s poem captures the poignancy of flowers that bloom early to tell us that summer is coming, but do not live to see summer in all its glory. They remind me of those characters in the gospels – Simeon and Anna, John the Baptist – who meet and recognize Jesus early in his life, but do not live to see Easter Day. In some ways, these characters feel themselves blessed. They have seen the Messiah, and they are full of joy and gratitude. In some ways, they die with their faith and hope unfulfilled, before they can witness the salvation which they foretold.
At certain times of the year, especially in…Lent, these gospel characters reflect our own complex state of faith. For us, in one sense, Easter Day has already come, and we can rejoice in God’s saving grace. In another sense, we are still waiting for the scriptures to be fulfilled. The world has not been wholly transformed by the Resurrection. Most of us do not feel perfectly at one with God. The Kingdom has not yet come. We are hopeful and doubtful by turns.
These gospel characters, in their time, waited for Easter through the long weeks of Lent. They too prayed for forgiveness and reconciliation; and though they died without seeing the fulfillment of the Kingdom, they left us a powerful legacy of hope. Like Housman’s Lent lilies, their lives were radiant with the promise of glory.
Lord Jesus, we are grateful to be living in a post-Easter world, though there are many of Your promises yet to be fulfilled. We eagerly await Your return and their fulfillment. All praise to You our Lord and Savior!
Mar 23rd, 2021, Mon, 6:47 pm
