Welcome, Spring

The Season of Renewal and Growth

Oh, high holy hallelujah, spring is here!

Dear Spring, you have no idea how happy we are to see you again. How happy we are to be dazzled by your bright blooms and longer days. How thrilled we are to be filled with possibility, with vision, with light. Let the season of blooming and becoming begin!

As always, you’ve returned on your own terms, teasing us with the promise of warmer days amid winter’s lingering chill. You’ve come and gone and returned again. Still, we’ve never doubted you for a moment. On those long winter mornings when we woke to more cold and ice, visions of goldfinches and daffodils kept our hearts warm and faithful.

And now the hard work of wintering has passed. Thank you, winter, for the gifts of hibernation and stillness and resting and recharging. Thank you for teaching us about patience and perseverance. Thank you for helping us find beauty in starkness and muted colors. Thank you for returning us to our homes deep within. And thank you for reminding us that we know how to create our own sunshine and warmth, when the outer world is dark.

And, dear winter, good riddance for now.

Spring is the season of growth and renewal. Seeds sprout roots and stems and blooms. Hopefulness returns. Bluebirds bring their promises of happiness. Even the damp spring air feels fresh with possibility.

Spring is also the season of renewed vision, when we turn our gaze outward once again. We look farther into the distance. We throw ourselves out of the comfort of our wintry nests, reconnecting with the flow of life beyond. We plot, we plan, we consider how best to help the whole world bloom.

And like the sap rising in the trees, we sense a return of vitality. We feel restored and uplifted and filled with the brightness of strengthening sun.

Let’s ride on spring’s strength as we move forward into the light. Let’s rise up as we trade in our snow boots for rain boots, down coats for sweaters, wool hats for baseball caps. Let’s dig our fingers into the dirt and return our bodies to the yard, the woods, the neighborhood trails that are filled with the season’s many surprises.

Oh, Spring, thank you for the many gifts you will surely bring. May we make the most of your freshness and your innocence. May we be buoyed by your blooming spirit. May we not waste a single day of the season on irritability or ill-will. May we flourish into the fullest expression of life well-lived - sunny, bright and clean. May we fill our lives with radiant light, all spring and beyond.