Dear Friends,
“Today is the first day of spring!” My neighbor reminded me, as we chatted when we met on our morning walks. A lovely thought even if the weather is still a little unpredictable. But hopefully, the deep winter chill is mostly behind us. Somebody told me it was the coldest New Jersey winter in ten years. Thankfully, the daffodils are growing and swelling with each day of sunshine to make the children remark about them while waiting for the school bus.
All wildlife has accelerated their levels of activity as they prepare for the mating season. American Robins seem to form groups as they forage together, and squirrels are heard rustling in the dry leaf litter before you catch a glimpse of them. But my favorite signs of spring are the evening chorus of the swamp wildlife and the dawn chorus which percolates my sleep in the early hours before I have to get up. Now the temperatures are milder, it is almost time to open the bedroom windows a crack, to avoid waking in the night feeling too hot and also enjoy these diurnal treats as they lull us to sleep and gently nudge us awake.
With all the swelling of buds and growing we see in the transforming landscapes around us, we are reminded that Lent is not only a time of penitent reflection but also a time to grow. And, it is fitting, during this emergence of new life from what once seemed dead and frozen that we celebrate the end of Lent with the final crescendo of the resurrection and the Easter story.
Pastor Cliff