Wordsworth's daffodils at Ullswater
Life on planet earth is tenacious. The harshest conditions have not deterred evolution's insistent ingenuity. Even in wildernesses life flourishes. Beneath the supposed barrenness of winter, below and behind what is visible, vibrant life waits the prompting of Spring to burst into view. In some environments decades may pass, centuries even, before the conditions are right for dormant potential to surge into actual growth. Elsewhere it is dependable and predictable. The shock of new life is never far away. Sometimes it is right under our feet and all around us. It transforms the stale and familiar with colour and beauty.
Experiencing the love of God like this in the wilderness is what the Bible points to. It shapes our expectations. In a poetic sense that Wordsworth would have understood and felt, the shock of new life is what the kingdom of God looks like.
In the light of Easter, such unfailing divine creativity helps us to live meaningfully in our Good Friday world.
The shock of new life - I like this phrase
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