April 16 Home Communicator -Growing up, I can remember attending Easter church services in all kinds of weather. I remember the sunrise services on the shores of Lake Michigan wearing shorts. I remember too an Easter Service cancelled because of a snowstorm. Because of the huge swing in the calendar date of Easter, I think many do not associate the Easter celebration with springtime. This year, once again, we have experienced 70 degree temperatures followed a few days later by snow. In so many ways, it mirrors the uncertainty and frustration of our lives – followed by the promise called Easter.
When you think about it, the similarities between springtime and Easter are amazing.
A Time of Many Miracles
Flowers sleeping ‘neath the snow
Awakening when the spring winds blow;
Leafless trees so bare before
Gowned in lacy green once more;
Hard unyielding, frozen sod
Now softly carpeted by God;
Still streams melting in the spring,
Rippling over rocks that sing;
Barren, windswept lonely hills,
Turning gold with daffodils …
These miracles are all around
Within our sight and touch and sound,
As true and wonderful today
As when “the stone was rolled away”
Proclaiming to all doubting men
That in God all things live again.
Helen Steiner Rice
Rejoice! Spring is coming and He is risen!
Dan Pott, Superintendent