'Spring!' Is In the Air


 I stepped out of our home early this morning just to breathe in the dawning moments of the day when, unexpectedly, it struck me, 'Spring!'

There was something about the very smell of the air, whether in something which is budding or blooming, something in the nearing weather system that my arthritis is pinging on, or something of the very day itself, my mind just instantly nearly yelled the word, 'Spring!', and I was transported back to when I was a kid growing up on our family dairy farm. As I stood outside our home this morning, my heart transported me to the twelve year old boy standing at the water hydrant waiting for a five gallon bucket to fill with water to be carried to the calves. It was there this morning's air was first consciously thought of as 'Spring!', overflowing with the sound of robins, cardinals, redwings, finches and blackbirds singing at the top of their lungs, layered with nearby wheat fields greening and pastures rising out of dormancy. It was there the skies seemed filled with clouds and vapor trails as they were this morning. It was there my senses first told me of the mysteries of God's universe without me ever fully understanding or appreciating it - then my soul gave that sensual moment a name which has never left me over all these years and decades, 'Spring!'
Spring is not so much about a day as it is of the Spirit. Spring sharpens our capacity to listen and heightens our sense of attentiveness. Spring tingles our nostrils and teases our definitions of delight. Spring elevates a young child's awareness of creation and leans them forward in excited longing for what may be next. Spring . . . is God waking us up after a long Winter's sleep and giving our feet reason to touch the floor and seek God's direction in the Season breaking in upon us. 'Spring!' . . . is the blessed discovery which met me as I stepped out the door this morning, causing my deepest memories to rise in joy all over again. 
Yes, there may be a few more days of Winter around, snow may fly, freezing may occur, yet we have clearly reached a time when such bitterness will inevitably be short-lived as the length of the sun's light expands and the width of night seemingly diminishes. Spring is tapping on the eyelids of our oft-unseeing eyes and lithely steeping the oxygen with a wonder undefinable in human standards. We have just to receive of the Gift, to bask in the enchantment of the Giver, and to give thanks for the nudge which calls us to Life again and again and again.
Of such as 'Spring!' is every Sabbath in Lent - and of such as 'Spring!' is the Resurrection which summons us beyond Winter's worst being left at the door of an empty tomb. Just look around and see, take in the air and savor it, 'Spring!' is emerging at God's behest - and creation announces the Truth for all who would believe.
Something to ponder on the journey.
 

Popular posts from this blog

How Do You Look?

Image
Have you ever wondered how you look in someone else's eyes? A fair number of people I know keep that concern close in mind as they select the clothes they wear, have their hair done, think about where they might find themselves - and with whom, and even as they choose what fragrance to wear. All that - for what one imagines others might see and perceive. Truth of the matter? Far more people will see you than you will ever know and, to a great extent, they will draw conclusions about you and who you are more by what you do and how you treat others, than by any personal appearance or attitude you work so carefully to project. Don't believe me? Consider this picture. Our farming neighbor across the fields, Judy Feig, sent this picture to me last evening. Seems she was outside their home and caught a glimpse of the setting sun reflecting off the barn at my brother's place and just could not pass on taking a picture and sending it to me. Oddly enough, though, Judy told me that t...
Read more

Time to Ban Lascivious Flowers and Their Colors

Image
It appeared this morning on today's edition of Sunday Morning on the local CBS network, a segment about the banning of books in our school systems and, by extension, in our local libraries. Much of the segment gave credit for the bans to an organization ironically named, 'Moms for Liberty'. Liberty must certainly have a different meaning today from when I grew up, but I digress. As I viewed the segment and the related story concerning the backlash from others across the country committed to making books, all kinds of books, available to anyone who wants to read them, it occurred to me that if we do not take this kind of oppressive authoritarian behavior seriously now and try to stop it, the next thing you know they will be trying to ban lascivious flowers and their colors, wherever they may be found - because, you know, flowers include the colors of the rainbow - and so much more. Having just received some absolutely stunning pictures of Spring flowers at Diamond Valley La...
Read more

Listen To The Graves of the Saints

Image
 "You need to stand and listen to the graves of the saints." In a Zoom meeting the other day, one of the members present observed that it seems our current world culture really has not learned much from our shared past. Referencing the overt bigotry against the LGBTQIA+ community, the ongoing racial unrest in so many forms, the painful grievous nature of the ongoing warfare in Ukraine, and our shared unwillingness to extend mercy and grace to others that they not be brought low by our stiff-necked system of beliefs within the Church itself, another of the participants, a Veteran of the military and of the cross as a minister, quietly, simply said, "You need to stand and listen to the graves of the saints." That so struck me, I wrote it down immediately and have been mulling on that wisdom ever since. What does it mean to, ". . . listen to the graves of the saints"? Then came the most recent of school shootings, this one in a Nashville, Tennessee, Christian...
Read more