Reverend Elaine’s April Reflections

March is a month full of surprises. Generally, the weather is unpredictable and changing and it always seems too long as we wait for the herald of spring and new growth, new life and fresh beginnings. Sometimes, we are tantalized in March by the warmth of the sun and then we’re suddenly plunged into snow, wind and rain. Sometimes it feels as if one day contains all four seasons and it’s on days like that we need a little shelter, a lean-to.

Lean-to’s are often found on hiking trails and are places where the weary walkers can sit and find some shade from the sun or protection from a storm that arrived suddenly out of nowhere.

Life can be a little like March with tantalizing tastes of spring and sunshine but more often it feels as if it’s filled with weariness of cold, snow and wild weather. The wild weather of our lives can come in many shapes and sizes, grief over the loss of a loved one, divorce, dealing with physical and mental illness, loss of a job and so on. The list of the storms of our lives can feel endless and it’s at times like those our spirits and souls sag and need held up. It is times like those that we need a lean-to, a place to shelter from the storms of life, a place to rest and simply be.

Where is your lean-to? Where do you find the shelter and support you need when the storms of life blow? Sometimes our lean-to can be a friend or member of the family who pops in to have a cup of tea offering a small glimmer of hope that can feel like a golden sunrise in our hearts.

Every one of us has need of a lean-to from time to time and we all have a very special lean-to in God. God’s heart welcomes us and provides refuge and comfort from the storms of our lives. Leaning on God or anyone is not always easy, it takes a bit of courage to lean and let go. We often feel as if we have to “be in control”, “be strong” get a grip” “pull ourselves up from our pain” and very often we don’t like to feel that we are dependant on anything like a cane or a walker or medication or even God to help us get through our days. It’s as if it’s a sign of weakness.

We need to learn to lean, to rest in the arms of God, to bring our burdens and lay them down. Jesus was a lean-to for many people as he healed and loved the people he came in contact with. He heard the cries of pain and grief as he worked to heal and share God’s love but even he needed a lean- to. He would often rise early and go to a quiet place to pray to God, his lean-to was in the heart of God and he invites us to share in that shelter with him and through him. God is our comfort in illness and light in darkness. The Psalms are filled with images of God as shelter, “for you are my refuge, my strong tower against the enemy, let me stay in your tent forever”, “in God alone there is rest for my soul…my rock, my safety, my stronghold”, “for you have always been my help in the shadow of your wings I rejoice”. God calls us into God’s lean- to a protective shelter and embrace.

A Lean-to on a hiking trail is constructed with wood and nails and so at this time in our church life I am drawn to the cross, a lean – to made of wood and nails, a place where we are drawn and invited to stop and stay awhile, knowing as we rest at the foot of the cross, that God feels our pain and invites us to take all our pains and lay them down at the cross, a lean-to of a very special kind.

In this month of April, full of storms and sunshine, look around you for the places and people of shelter and support, may they be a reminder to you of the place of spiritual shelter and support that God offers. Isaiah 50:4-10, “which of you walks in darkness and sees no light? ---lean on God.”