The
Paschal Moon
“Do
not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter people and
hallelujah is our song.”
Pope
John Paul II
I
wish you could have watched the setting of the Paschal moon with me
this morning. As full and round as any harvest moon I've ever seen,
it seemed to hang in place on the western skyline far longer than
normal. The light so bright the city lights paled by comparison. And
now the sun, jealous of moon's surpassing beauty, is rising in a
huffy mood.
Easter
is early this year. The timing, set by the first Council of Nicaea in
325, and designed to correspond both to the Spring Equinox and the
Hebrew Passover, must fall between March 22 and April 25, by our
western calendar. I have thought a lot about my grandmother's
prohibition against planting before Easter—we've had several nights
of hard-freeze. Mama was right about many things, and she knew from
birth what made sense when it came to soil and seeds and growing.
Some of my fondest childhood memories come from summer days spent in
her garden. I see her in my mind's eye squatting, her wide straw hat
barely visible between green stalks of tasseling corn, pulling weeds,
loosening soil, loving every green leaf like her own child.
Such
a mystery, gardening. How some folks can throw a seed at the hard
earth and grow anything, while others tend it, fertilize like crazy,
do everything exactly by the book, yet nothing grows. Some call it a
green-thumb, but I think it has to do with love. Love of dirt, of its
smell, its texture, and love of the creative process—from
impossibly small brown seed, to tiny green shoot, to robust plant, to
round ripe fruit. It truly is miraculous.
I
hope that you are planning to grow something green this year. Even
if you live in a city surrounded by skyscrapers, you can find a
sunny window and grow an herb garden. Keeping in touch with the
natural world, putting our hands in the dirt, connects us to
ourselves in a very particular way. Connects us also to the miracle
of life and to the hallelujah song of Spring.
In
the spirit,
Jane
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