The Wonder of Spring

 The Wonder of Spring-

Spring quietly appears.  No thundering or lightening. No snowstorms. No freezing weather.  She comes gently.  One day the ground is bare.  The next life is springing forth.  Plants somehow know that it is time for them to make their humans grateful and happy.  Grateful for surviving yet another winter.  Grateful to once again walk in the warmth of a breeze.  With no coats, scarves or hats.  Not bent into the wind.  Just walking.  Maybe humming a tune.  Observing life appearing again.  Happy to be present when such a time arrives.

There is excitement when a bush puts out leaves or when a flower blooms.  We stand in awe as if it is the first time we have seen it happen.  That's part of what makes spring so special.  We are renewed.  We fall in love all over again with the wonder of nature.  We walk among the bluebells and are transplanted into a new and lovely world.  A world where everything is beauty.  We walk around the flower and plant beds hoping to see shoots pushing their way into the world.  Out from their hiding places.  We talk to others about the progress we see each day.  Yes, it is a magical time.

Nature renewed.  Nature reborn.  Nature springing out  in our faces.    Welcoming us to come see, come smell, come gather.  To be refreshed after a winter of silence.  A winter with beauty of a different kind.

Time to evaluate our landscape.  Should we move this bush over there?  Will it receive the correct amount of sun and shade it needs to thrive?  What about those plants?  Maybe we should divide and replant where there are holes in the bed.  Get those clippers out.  Time to do a little trimming.  Hours spent evaluating.  Changing.  Enjoying what works and fixing what doesn't.  Backs sore from digging and raking.  A good tired.  One that occurs when creative work is finished.

Hope is born in spring.  Hope that this world will become a better place for all people who walk its soil.  Hope that broken relationships will mend and stay mended.  Hope that love will surround us until we are giddy and silly from it.  Hope that those we meet will become friends.  Hope that those who are friends will grow closer and dearer.  Hope that cures will be discovered in a lab.  Hope that treatment will be less difficult.  Hope that we all have another year to live.  And that that year will be full of all the best.  Hope that we will not fail to see those in need but will reach beyond ourselves to encourage another.  Hope that we are able to comfort others whose world has broken into a million pieces.  That we don't say we don't know what to say.  But that we give a hug or hold a hand or cry with.

Spring is born each year into this world.  We can count on it.  We may have to wait awhile, but we know it will appear.  Hope is born within us as we reach beyond our own small world into the larger one and embrace the new.  As we allow our spirits to grow and blossom into something beautiful.  Our growth may begin small.  Maybe only we are aware it is happening.  It could start as a change of attitude.  Or a shift from being negative to being more positive.  It could move from being critical to seeing others in a new and different light.

Whatever we need to feel spring within our spirit, it is my hope that we allow it to enter our presence.  To allow ourselves to blossom forth in new and exciting ways. To rejoice that we have been given the gift of friendship.  To celebrate all the people who inhabit our space.  To accept that we are all different and find that a good thing.  To learn.  To wonder.  To question.

Spring is a renewing of our world and ourselves. A time to start again.  To be done with that which wore us down.  To embrace that which is beautiful.  And to be grateful for new beginnings.