Where I am in Idaho, we have had a few “false springs.” We enjoyed the temperatures in the 60’s, sunshine, lovely days for walking and being outside. In between those “false springs,” winter reclaimed its rightful place, and we got rain and wind while the mountains got more snow.
On my walks I noticed some of the early flowers emerging from the ground, promising beautiful blossoms soon. I am always touched by the beauty around me, the emergence of flowers from the cold, hard wintry days, the buds springing forth on the trees, the lengthening daylight and soft spring skies.
As I walked around our neighborhood the other day I thought of that line from the Alfred Lord Tennyson poem, Locksly Hall, “In the spring a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love.”
In the spring my fancy also turns to thoughts of love, especially the love my Savior has for me. Easter, Resurrection Sunday, is late this year, April 20, but what the world considers “Easter” items have already appeared on the store shelves. There are bunnies, baskets, boxes of candy, and much more.
My “Easter” items are a bit different. There is a rough cross, a crown of thorns, weeping, ridicule, swords and whips. I see a tomb and soldiers and a confining stone across the entry. But then … what joy! I also see a stone rolled away, an empty tomb, tears turned to laughter, sorrow into joy! I see Resurrection Sunday(!) in all its glory and wonder.
In the spring, my fancy always turns to thoughts of love … “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” [John 3:16 NLT]
