Richard Jones’ life was a never-ending winter of depression. His heart had been broken too many times; his last few dreams finally died in defeat and disappointment. He would leave his house only to go teach his classes or see his doctor, but his real life was lived under a blanket in his dark bedroom.

Then, one day, he was drawn to his empty yard and felt the urge to dig. He turned over spade after spade of dirt until he had cleared a small plot. He planted a few seeds and managed to find the energy to water and fertilize and weed. Soon he picked his first small basket of tomatoes and beans. He now had reason to get out of bed. He was a gardener.

That was a few years ago. As he looks back, he wonders what he could have done if only he had gotten up out of bed and put on his shoes: He could have built a boat. He could have written a book. He could have planted a garden. Now, each winter, as the wind and the rain rage, he spends hours at his kitchen table planning the next year’s garden. On a large piece of paper he marks the rows: carrots here, potatoes there, beans in that section and tomato plants on the edges. He eagerly looks forward to the new the seed catalogue each year; he devours gardening books and is constantly checking out horticultural websites looking for new ways to make next season’s garden greener and more productive.

While the world around him is entombed in winter, he lives in the never-disappointing hope of spring, looking forward to digging in his garden and gathering the bounty of the harvest.

All of us have experienced some extended spiritual “winter” when we have felt trapped by the feeling that nothing matters much, when we are entombed by disappointment, hurt and grief – or we are so absorbed in work or others expectations that distract us from being the kind of spouse, parent, child or friend we want to be. The Christ who calls Lazarus from his tomb calls us out of the tombs we dig for ourselves in order to walk in the light of hope and possibility. He calls us to live life to the fullest, to bring the love of God into our cold, winter world. Jesus calls not only to Lazarus but to all of us: Come out! Go free! Unbind yourselves from the wrappings of death! Live life to the fullest – the life given to you by a loving Cod. Every one of us has been called in baptism to bring life out of devastation, to enable hope to take root in the most barren of places, to lift others out of the pits and rubble of fear and pain.

We have been entrusted with the work of resurrection: to bring the life and love of God into the most everyday of situations. The Easter Christ calls us – whether doctor or labourer, adult or child, teacher or student – to bring the transformative, healing power of his resurrection into our own lives and the lives of those around us. As Jesus called Lazarus to life, may we hear that same call to life, to drop the bindings of sin and death that prevent us from loving and being loved.

May we hear that same call to life in our darkest and coldest winters, enabling us to drop the bindings of disappointment and anger and embrace the never failing hope of the gardener.