Spring 2022

 The grass finally has a tinge of green. The birds are migrating.  Geese are flying overhead; a robin perched on the fence with his proud red breast; sparrows are scoping out the bird house, preparing to build their nest; red wing blackbirds have returned to the marsh.  It is time for my spring column.

 Two years ago I wrote about Fred and Ethel, the robins who built their nest in the tree outside our front window. Maybe that was Fred on the back fence this morning.  We still have the nest.  Last year I wrote about two sparrows who surveyed the scene and built their nest in our birdhouse out back,  Maybe they are the same ones planning to move back in.

 The Aspen is heavy with buds, anticipating warmer days. Winter is gone, leaving behind its final shrouds of snow.  People are out: walking their dogs, riding their bikes, hiking the hills. Like bears from their hibernation, we are emerging from winter to greet the day.

 All who have lived in similar latitudes have experienced what we feel, from before recorded history, dating back to the earliest civilizations who left behind fragments of their existence.  We, too, are part of nature, filling our lungs with fresh and fragrant air; sensing the sun that warms our skin. We feel the energy.  Our spirits rise to meet the season and the day.

 There are those who live in tropical climates, and those who live at the polar extremes, where the seasons never change. But, for most of us, our lives are tuned to the seasons. Each season has its purpose and its beauty, but none has the magic of Spring, when the dead and dormant landscape clothes itself with green, when flower burst from their bulbs, when bees and humming birds return to seek their nectar.

 It is, I think, God’s reminder to us to never give up. Dark and cold winter days can seem like an eternity, but they always give way to another Spring and another Summer.  Babies will be born, playgrounds will be filled with children’s laughter.  Again we will hear the crack of the bat on the ball! 

 This is the reason Jesus used an image of Spring to foretell his return.  Jesus said, “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree.  As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so when you see all these things you will know that it is near, right at the door. Truly I tell  you this generation shall not pass away until all these things have happened.  Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my Word shall not pass away,”  (Matthew 24:32-35).

 A better day, a brighter day, a new day is coming, a day that transcends the evil and oppression and injustice of these days, beyond war and pestilence, disease and death. Winter cannot keep its icy grip. Spring will come, life and resurrection will prevail when He returns.