Blustery March winds whipped as I wound my way along the path of the old fort on the Patapsco River. A seagull bobbed ahead of me in the water, as I approached the grove of flowering trees – the treasured cherry blossoms. Every year I try to make an annual trek to Fort McHenry National Park to admire these beauties, and every year it fills my heart.

I confess I find the famous DC versions a tad over-rated. Perhaps it’s the crowds of people, or my discomfort with the capital. I prefer the Baltimore display. It might be their more wide-open, peaceful and dense arrangement. It might be my love for my hometown. Whatever it is, this springtime ritual is one of those delights that gives me joy and hope every year as we leave winter behind.

They were just coming in to peak bloom that Friday afternoon – delicate, and perfect in their still pinkish hue. The wind would blow, and petals swirled through the air, gently falling to the ground, becoming a floral bed in the returning-to-green-grass. Dogs were walked, families snapped pics, joggers ran by… a peaceful scene with the aroma of sweet cherry vanilla notes filling the air with goodness.

My heart soaked up the beauty. It’s just amazing to me that flowers grow on trees!

I find this certainty in spring, these natural wonders to look forward to each year, so comforting! I like to marvel in the loveliness, let it sink deep into my soul and feel the magic of the moment.

And then it was time to move on. I didn’t think twice about the bridge in the background.

A few days later, that massive bridge off in the distance from Fort McHenry, an architectural fixture and critical infrastructure in Baltimore, toppled into the Patapsco. Struck by a shipping cargo leaving the port, it collapsed in mere seconds. The video is hard to believe.

Cherry blossom petals float to the ground.

A bridge crashes into the bay.

Two very different things, with a similar fate.

It can feel strange to mourn a bridge. Of course, the lives lost – humans cut short on what should have been an ordinary workday – are the greatest tragedy. Yet the bridge itself is a great loss, and our region has been reeling from the shock.

Perhaps what’s most jarring… that uncomfortable reminder that nothing is truly safe. In this world of AI and advanced technology, a boat can still crash into a bridge, killing and destroying. For all that we can do in this age, things still break. Today is a gift and tomorrow isn’t promised.

The culture and media of the world we live in likes to pretend that we can conquer all, but it’s just not true. Because we also live in the age of anxiety, don’t we? Advanced technology, instant communication, and access to all knowledge. Yet there’s also a collective miserable-ness?

On this Easter weekend, I can’t help but hold this tension of springtime and destruction close to my heart.

Technology can’t conquer death. It can’t even resolve our anxiety. But Jesus did. Jesus – God – died to defeat it all: death, anxiety, brokenness, destruction. We’re still in the tension of the here and now, but one day all the decay will end. There will be a new heaven and new earth, where all things are always good. This isn’t just a JRR Tolkien fantasy – its the beautiful future hope of what God promises.

We all are just the like cherry blossoms right now, and life is fleeting.

But in the mere moments we do have, life can also be abundant. Even when our own proverbial bridges fall, new life can abound. I’ll be a testament to that. Years ago, the ground underneath me swallowed me up and I thought life would never renew. It does. It takes time, but springtime finds a way. Until our end, us humans are remarkably resilient. Might it be because we all have the image of God in us, the one who makes all things new…

When you believe in Jesus, this life is just the beginning for the goodness to come. Yet this life has its beauty too. There’s so much to do: building houses, settling down, planting gardens, marrying, growing families. It’s all good, in this “exile,” if you will, just like God instructed the Israelites in Babylon, long before Jesus walked the earth, was crucified, and rose again.

Life gets busy though and we move on, and especially if you live far from Maryland, you may not have even thought twice about the Key Bridge accident. But that anxiety is still always on in the background, isn’t it?

The prophet Jeremiah who wrote to those Israelites in exile about building and growing, also exhorted his friends to not listen to other preachers who peddled lies. As one who has succumbed to falsehoods in the past, I can attest to the destruction they bring. This world has a lot of lies. That we’re invincible. That after one mistake, life is over. That life can never have hope. But there’s a source of truth that sets us free. His name is Jesus, and he died for all of our mess – our mistakes, our grief – all for love.

There’s something romantic about the cherry blossoms. So maybe this Easter weekend, may they make us think of love. The greatest love there is.

And maybe we can all live more beautifully, like the cherry tree, and all the other flowering things that are coming into their season!? That’s what I am desiring to draw deeply from, and I think there are so many others who want to join me too. Will you?

With our ultimate hope in Jesus, we can live beautifully and even keep going in the not-so-beautiful moments. We can rebuild bridges. We can keep living. Less fear, less anxiety, more beauty, more hope.

I hope you find some cherry blossoms this weekend, friends!