Tomorrow (Easter) we’re going to have a celebration/discussion around a fire-pit at 6:15 as the sun rises on a promontory overlooking the Big Spring where we’ll be hearing ducks and geese and a slew of other birds greeting just another day, for them. (One year, under the huge black-walnut tree, it was difficult to focus on the people speaking, as there were 3 newly-fledged owlets directly overhead peering down at us, surely wondering what in the world we were doing there. They remained motionless even as we sang and played brass instruments.)

Tomorrow we’ll be considering the wood we’ll be burning. We’ll be wondering at how trees are able to catch and absorb sunlight and carbon dioxide from thin air, and make wood. The fire will radiate light and heat (it’s supposed to be rather chilly), light and heat that have been stored through the miracle of photosynthesis, from the light of the sun.

We’ll be considering how we are to emulate a tree planted by water. Why? Because water helps in the establishment of roots. It also helps in the collection of trace-minerals needed by the tree in the process of photosynthesis. We, too, need some connection to the Earth. Man does not live by bread alone. We are called to live. How? Well, it helps to have some treasure. We are to lay up treasure in Heaven. In thin air. Huh?

You can’t take it with you. Wanna bet? We will lay our crowns at Jesus’ feet. What crowns? Fellowship, especially during suffering, is our joy and our crown. My tears, if I will trust you enough to cry them in your presence, are jewels in your crown. Do you want a skimpy tiara, or a honkin-encrusted crown, to lay at Jesus’ feet?

If your roots are good, if your roots are in well-watered soil, if you’re a child of the light, you’ll produce good fruit. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (3 sets of 3 words, the first triplet, monosyllabic, the second triplet, disyllabic, the third triplet, miracle-of-miracles [thank you NIV], tri-syllabic!)

This has what to do with Easter? Everything. The Spirit-empowered life is made possible only by the Word from our Sponsor.