As I write this, it is precisely 7:35 pm Eastern Daylight Time on Monday, March 20, 2023. This means that for the last 2 hours and 11 minutes, it has officially been springtime! This is because, for those of us here in the Northern Hemisphere, 5:24 p.m. EDT marked the arrival of the Vernal Equinox, heralding the formal advent of spring.
Let me just say that I, for one, am very glad to see spring’s arrival! After all, spring represents many changes. Among them are cold weather giving way to warm weather, shorter days giving way to longer days, less darkness and more light, and largely as a result of all these, going from being cooped up inside to being let loose outside.
I find all these things especially significant this year. Long before John Steinbeck did so, William Shakespeare wrote of “the winter of our discontent”. Irrespective of its origins, my family and I can relate to that meaningful phrase.
In November, as cold weather, shorter days, and winter itself were all preparing to unfold, we buried my beloved sister. Four months to the day after her death, after a long and debilitating decline, my wife’s father also passed away.
In the intervening months, we lost more than one friend as well. Thus, to say that it was our own personal winter of discontent is to say the least. Little wonder that spring means so much to us this year.
After the great flood (in Genesis, chapter 8, verse 22), God gave a promise to all of us through the one He made to Noah and his descendants: “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.”
In fulfilling this promise, God ever shows His goodness to us. For as winter annually gives way to spring, something far greater than a change of seasons is symbolized. For life springs forth; and death is forced to give way.
As it does, hope wins out over despair, joy defeats sadness, strength overthrows weakness, and victory ultimately routs defeat! And all of this affirms the truth of Psalm 30, verse 5, which tells us that “weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning”.
For all these reasons, my family and I are very glad that spring has finally sprung!
CONTENT SOURCES:
https://www.farmersalmanac.com/spring-equinox-first-day-spring;
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_of_Discontent_(disambiguation).
SCRIPTURE SOURCES:
https://biblehub.com/genesis/8-22.htm;
https://biblehub.com/psalms/30-5.htm.
Let me just say that I, for one, am very glad to see spring’s arrival! After all, spring represents many changes. Among them are cold weather giving way to warm weather, shorter days giving way to longer days, less darkness and more light, and largely as a result of all these, going from being cooped up inside to being let loose outside.
I find all these things especially significant this year. Long before John Steinbeck did so, William Shakespeare wrote of “the winter of our discontent”. Irrespective of its origins, my family and I can relate to that meaningful phrase.
In November, as cold weather, shorter days, and winter itself were all preparing to unfold, we buried my beloved sister. Four months to the day after her death, after a long and debilitating decline, my wife’s father also passed away.
In the intervening months, we lost more than one friend as well. Thus, to say that it was our own personal winter of discontent is to say the least. Little wonder that spring means so much to us this year.
After the great flood (in Genesis, chapter 8, verse 22), God gave a promise to all of us through the one He made to Noah and his descendants: “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.”
In fulfilling this promise, God ever shows His goodness to us. For as winter annually gives way to spring, something far greater than a change of seasons is symbolized. For life springs forth; and death is forced to give way.
As it does, hope wins out over despair, joy defeats sadness, strength overthrows weakness, and victory ultimately routs defeat! And all of this affirms the truth of Psalm 30, verse 5, which tells us that “weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning”.
For all these reasons, my family and I are very glad that spring has finally sprung!
CONTENT SOURCES:
https://www.farmersalmanac.com/spring-equinox-first-day-spring;
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_of_Discontent_(disambiguation).
SCRIPTURE SOURCES:
https://biblehub.com/genesis/8-22.htm;
https://biblehub.com/psalms/30-5.htm.