Vernal Equinox

Happy Spring!

“Lord of the springtime, Father of flower, field and fruit, smile on us in these earnest days when the work is heavy and the toil wearisome; lift up our hearts, O God, to the things worthwhile—sunshine and night, the dripping rain, the song of the birds, books and music, and the voices of our friends. Lift up our hearts to these this night and grant us Thy peace. Amen”
W.E.B. Du Bois

Happy Vernal Equinox to you! On this first day of spring, we celebrate the return of warmth and sunlight—it may not be fully present yet, but we know it's on the way. In Birmingham, I have never seen so many tulips and jonquils. They loved the cold winter this year, and have rewarded us with profuse blooms. I follow my grandmother's injunction to never plant until after Good Friday, but it's hard, because the spring flowers and the birds singing crazy mating music make me want to dig in the dirt. Soon, soon, I tell myself.

Spring is such a gift after winter, which I know is mild in the South compared to the snowy North. It's almost as if a grand plan had been made long ago—at the dawn of creation—to give all beings a break, a sigh, a reminder of why “God saw that it was good.” (Genesis 1)

Here is an excerpt from a Chinook Psalter for spring which speaks to that:

“...O [God],
May we today be touched by grace, fascinated and moved by this
your creation, energized by the power of new growth at work
in your world.
May we move beyond viewing this life only through a frame, but
touch it and be touched by it,
know it and be known by it,
love it and be loved by it.
May our bodies, our minds, our spirits, learn a new rhythm paced
by the rhythmic pulse of the whole created order.
May spring come to us, be in us, and recreate life in us...”
Earth Prayers: Cycles of Life

In the Spirit,
Jane