Spring

Spring. Though it is not "officially" spring, today is the beginning in my mind. I am inspired by the warmth I feel on my bare arms, and the slight breeze that blows my skirt around my feet as I eat black beans and rice outside on the stoop in the afternoon sunshine.

I have been researching and reading about Ash Wednesday, Lent and Easter lately, looking for prayers in preparation of the upcoming season. It came to my attention a few years ago, the question of why we celebrate Easter, the Death and Resurrection of Christ, in the Spring. We celebrate his Birth in the dreary months of winter, which is famously and somewhat universally a symbol of death.

Why did the church leaders of the path make this so? It has become common myth (myth because it is hearsay and I have not SEEN evidence) that these dates are flip-flopped (and please correct me if I'm wrong). But that way back in the day Christ was actually BORN in April, and DIED in what we know as December.

If this is indeed true (the flip-floppiness), I think it is a smart move from whoever decided it. During the Spring, Christians are reminded that there is indeed physical Death, that we will inevitably experience. We are reminded in the midst of Spring Celebration, that there is always Mourning to come. Whether it is mourning in our personal lives such of a family member, but also that Life is not all a bed of roses, which begin their bloom in the Spring.

Just as we are reminded of Death, in the midst of our Celebration of Spring, we are reminded of Birth in winter. During the long cold, dark, harsh winter months, we are oppressed by Nature and limited in some of our activities. But in the midst of this, Christ is Born! A signal that something great is to come in the future, thus we Rejoice! A Light in the Dark!

How clever of someone to have set this tale... Well, at least for this side of the Earth. I suppose the other side is celebrating at the appropriate time!?