A Spring Welcome!

We are into the second day of Spring and I'm reminded of a past OEP blog.  Here's a slightly new rendition:

The year’s at the spring, 

And day’s at the morn;

Morning’s at seven; 

The hill-side’s dew-pearled;

The lark’s on the wing;

The snail’s on the thorn;

God’s in His [sic] heaven-

All’s right with the world!

~ Robert Browning, Pipa Passes

"...And God said, 'It is good.  It is very good!'...The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims God's handiwork... do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear... Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet God feeds them... neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God..." 

~ Genesis, Psalms, Matthew, Romans

I first heard and learned the words of Robert Browning's Pipa Passes as lyrics of a musical arrangement sung by a children's church choir I was in. I remember walking along by myself to school on a cool, crisp, sunny, blue skied spring morning.  Wearing a new pair of Keds, my lunch sack in one hand, books in the other, and a ball glove hanging from my belt, I passed through a meadow still damp with morning dew and filled with wild flowers. I sang those words at the top of my voice and knew the Universe was listening. 

Now I know that "all's right with the world" not because everything is always right but because the Universe that heard my boy soprano solo is whole and complete, which is a biblical understanding of "good."  This also gives deeper dimension to the liturgical exchange I first heard at a church youth gathering: "God is Good!" - "All the time!" - "All the time!" - "God is Good!"  I've also come to understand and experience that the "heaven" God is in surrounds and fills us right here, right now.

One of our old church hymns says, "There's a wideness in God's mercy..."  It's true - regardless of what is going on in the world or our particular lives, the seasons, the sunrise, the hillside, the dew, the lark, the snail the thorn, and even stormy skies are always witness to and reminder of One Eternal Presence.