Tidbits from Toni:

    The first day of the spring season is March 20. For the church this is the time Jesus spent in the Garden deep in prayer. The accounts in Luke 22:39-46, Mark 14:32-42, and Matthew 26:36-46 paint a picture of pain and distress as Jesus knew what was going to happen. Jesus threw himself on the ground and prayed. He asked his disciples to be alert and to pray with him.

    As disciples that follow Christ today may it be our attitude of prayer to submit fully to God, place our lives prostrate before our Maker, and put everything before God. Let us also be in the supportive groups of other Christians to pray. This Thursday, the last week of Jesus' life, was a day of intimate fellowship. Our Savior served supper in the upper room where he also washed the feet of his friends. Imagine the intimacy of that moment, the humility of submitting before the leader to be washed in this special way. Jesus said to them, "I am among you as one who serves." (Luke 22:27) Our call as Christians, followers of Christ, is to participate in dedicated discipleship and the fellowship of serving.

    In the spring season of the year in Texas we have showers that wash the earth clean of the dust that has blown from the fields of our farms and streets of our towns. We need the washing of the earth just as much as our souls need to be washed clean in the waters of righteousness. Jesus offers living waters and we are refreshed just as the spring rains are a welcome and needed sign of the seasonal changes. May we pray as Peter did to have Jesus wash not only our feet but also our hands and our heads.

    Jesus was about to be crucified, to offer his body and his blood. The meal that he blessed became the Eucharist that we celebrate in remembrance. In the spring of the year the lambs are born. Jesus is the Lamb of God. His body and blood have taken the place of the ritual sacrifices people had been expected to offer.

    This year, on the first day of spring, let us make the deeper meaning of the passage from the darkness of winter into the greater light of spring help us to remember that Jesus is the Light of the World. May the ritual passage of our spiritual journey provide the basis of a long and on-going deep relationship with God and with others.

    Rev. Toni