“For behold, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers have already appeared in the land; the time has arrived for pruning the vines, and the voice of the turtledove has been heard . . .” Song of Solomon 2. I realize I am pushing it just a bit. But spring will be here in just two weeks. Daylight savings time does begin this weekend. While it would be difficult to see any flowers because of a persistent foot of snow that won’t go away, I’m sure that deep underneath there are crocus thinking about pushing their heads above ground. As for the dove, there was a very amorous fellow outside my window wooing and cooing the girl of his dreams. She was playing hard to get but there was no doubt he had the Song of Solomon in mind. This is not to say we will not get another blast of winter. It could easily happen. After all, we wouldn’t want Punxsutawney Phil to be wrong. He did see his shadow.
Jesus did say, “And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for spring draws nigh.” Well, not actually. I did fudge the text just a bit. He actually said, “your redemption draws nigh” which is much better than looking forward to spring. Life is made so much better when we have good things to look forward to. Thanksgiving is looking forward to the children and grandchildren gathering about the table. Christmas is about looking forward to giving things to our loved ones. Spring is looking forward to zephyrs and daffodils. And Jesus is about looking forward to an eternity filled with things to look forward to.
Written by Roger Bothwell on March 7, 2014
Spring of Life, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574
Rogerbothwell.org