Daffodils always fill me with joyful hope.
 
One of the precious memories of my parents was shortly after my father died in 1997. They had purchased a VHS camera. The kind as big as a suitcase!  They had just come from church, and still in their “church clothes” had set up the camera in their small kitchen. On the table was a vase brimming with freshly picked daffodils. As my mother smiled, my dad started the camera and then, sneaking around through a bedroom, took a seat next to her as if it were spontaneous. In what was meant to be an Easter mailing, they shared how daffodils (in the hundreds on their rural property) always reminded them of Christ rising from the grave. A few days later, before Easter and before the VHS could be mailed, my father died unexpectantly.  My mother lived another 20 years, thankfully, but that video of them together remains a testimony to me of the gift of faith in their lives. And through them, in mine.
 
I just can’t walk past daffodils without feeling hope. 
 
Daffodils lined most of the mulched beds at Prince of Peace as I entered for the Vigil of Easter, and again on Easter morning. So many servants had been working to plan, clean, prepare for the Festival worships (thank you, all of you!), but none of us had a clue to how it would go. Two years ago, we worshipped only online. One year ago, we worshipped in the church parking lot, gloriously surrounded by daffodils and warm breezes. If you were there this year, in person or online, you know. It was glorious, joyous. The church was packed, at every worship.  And, oh, even the daffodils added visual praise to the song of the church. I was thankful, so thankful, to be there. And I am confident that I was surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses.  It’s possible that I even heard a few daffodils sing “alleluia!”
 
This coming Sunday is the 4th Sunday of Easter. The daffodils are still triumphantly in bloom.  Alleluia!  It will also be Mother’s Day. While it is not a liturgical festival day (we are called to honor our mothers and fathers every day, according to the 4th commandment!), it does evoke for many of us, at varied levels, both thanksgiving and grief. May we be for each other what daffodils are for me, a source of comfort, encouragement and the hope of resurrection.
 
I hope you will join us in worship, and if not, that you can hear the witness of the daffodils.
 
The peace of our risen Lord be with you!
 
Pastor Jim Wilson