Here Comes the Sun

The days are growing longer, the snow is finally starting to melt away, and day by day the air grows warmer. The sky is less gray, and the sun appears more often than it has for the last few months. Though it is still a long while before Spring will have arrived properly, I can't help but think about it every day.

This winter has been a particularly long one for me. Twice as much snow fell as I had anticipated. When it first arrives, snow is exciting and beautiful, but as time wears on, it becomes a hassle to walk through it all day long. I wore snow boots for two months straight, and had to carry around a pair of shoes to wear indoors. When the grass finally started to peek out from beneath its snowy blanket, and several birds began returning to campus, I felt my heart swell.

For all the grief my allergies tend to cause me, I think Spring might be my favorite season. It is a time when all things are becoming new. It is a time where trees and plants sprout new growth, and animals give birth to their newest offspring.

It reminds me of the New Jerusalem described in the book of Revelation. All things that came before are wiped away, and the world becomes new and clean. It also brings to mind an image of Noah and the ark. He had to wait through 40 days of rain, only to have to wait longer after it stopped for the waters to clear away. When the dry land reappeared, though, all was clean and new.

Palm Sunday and Easter are very important parts of my Spring memories, throughout my life. Easter is a celebration of rebirth, and perhaps that is why I am so incredibly fond of it. No Easter bunnies or marshmallow peeps (though I do enjoy microwaving them...) for me. I'd much rather go to church. After the long, solemn season of Lent, Easter really does feel like a day when all of us are being reborn, and granted a chance to start anew.

Easter is even farther off than the start of Spring proper. But I'm holding them both close to my heart this week, so that I may ponder them while I wait. I look forward to that chance to feel renewed, that I may make a fresh start.

~*~

But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

Romans 8:25