The earth is risen too!

It is no mistake that Easter occurs in the spring and some years like this one it is later than others. This afternoon after lunch I took a walk in the woods here at Mount Irenaeus. All along the trail as I walked slowly through the wood were signs of the earth coming to life after months of slumber during the winter. I marveled at the incredible forces that we lovingly call nature and how this delicate dance plays out each year as the suns warms the earth to just the right temperature. Suddenly flowers appear where only days before were leaves pressed to the forest floor from months of snow and rain. Easter is a time when we celebrate the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus. It has been over 2000 years since the historical Jesus was arrested, crucified, buried and resurrected. No matter whether you are a follower of Christ or not there is no doubt that each year the earth enters a period of arrest in late fall, is entombed through the winter and rises again in the spring. This new life which comes from the death of the old demonstrates that death is a part of life. Each spring the earth rises from the dead as it were. The flowers along the trail, the chipmunks and robins scurrying and flying about are cause for rejoicing. Hallelujah! The earth is risen!