Powerful Reminders

 

After the last - I hope - blast of winter, our neighborhood was greeted with a picture perfect day. All enjoyed a cloudless sky of brilliant blue and warm temperatures. Once again the park was a beehive of activity. Soccer games, baseball games, children on bikes and families having picnics - life had returned in full force.

As I walked the trail around the park, something high up in a treetop caught my eye. It was colorful and moving ever so slightly in the breeze. Sometime over these past few very windy days, brave souls ventured out to fly a kite. Clearly, they were successful in getting the kite high into the winter sky. Unfortunately, it appears that the high winds ended up winning. Here is all that remains of the beautiful kite. I hope the sight of it makes the flier smile as they pass, reminding them of that day and the beauty of the flight. Instead of a invoking sadness, the snagged and broken kite can be a powerful reminder of good things, even the best of things.

This past week I traveled back home to visit my brother. We took a drive to see our parent’s grave. It reminded me of how I miss them, but it also reminded me of their well lived lives and their love. In a similar way, a memorial to those who gave their lives in a war remind us of the violence and tragedy, but it also reminds us of duty and honor and sacrifice.

So it is with the cross. A symbol of the Empire’s brutality and power, the cross instilled fear in the people. The cross was a symbol of shame and death.

But Jesus turned the cross into a reminder of the best of things - unconditional love, forgiveness, hope and devotion. In Colossians we read how God was at work “ …through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” God can make even the hardest times of our lives reminders of good things - friends who stood beside us, strength to endure and the hope of a new beginning.

Peace.