Matthew 28:1-10
Among the thorns, flowers bloom.
Prickly Pear bloom
As I was riding my bike through my quarantined 55+ community in Arizona, I was struck by the profusion of flowers that sprang to life from a sudden storm over Easter weekend. I took these photos from a wide array of desert flowers blooming in my area.
For Christians, Holy Week begins with Jesus’s triumphant entrance into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and ends with his suffering and death on Good Friday; but, on Easter Sunday Life triumphs over Death.
If we stay in Good Friday, with its terror, sorrow and death, we will never expereince the joy and promise of the Resurrection on Easter. Hope, redemption and life win over heartache, suffering and death.
Scorpionweed
There is no environment more hostile than a desert or a plant more threatening than a cactus; and yet, they are both transformed in a rainstorm. Flowers bloom among the thorns or break free from dry, sandy soil. The desert goes from a lifeless plain to a transformed garden.
Mexican Gold Poppy
Seeing the riot of colors from cactus and desert flowers brought me hope and joy, reminding me not to stay in Good Friday, but enter into the light of Easter’s promise. Christ is not in the grave. He is risen from the dead.
Chuparosa
I now celebrate desert flowers and will remember them when things look bleak.
The Prickly Pear flowers are the most brilliant, but there are a number of desert plants of surprising variety to build an Easter Promise bouquet:
- Brittlebush
- Mexican Gold Poppy
- Desert Marigold
- Chuparosa
- Scorpionweed
- Desert Paintbrush
- Purple Owl Clover
Brittlebush