First Day of School

I don’t know about anyone else, but I always loved the first day of school. I loved gathering all my new books and pencils, making a list of goals to have accomplished by the end of the year, and anticipating looking back and seeing how far I have come. Don’t you just love the thrill of a brand new start, moving forward to better yourself in mind and body? The anticipation of being the best student possible and by the end of the year being miles ahead of your past self. Being excited to work towards something that matters. That is what is beautiful about the first day of school; you get to be excited about life before you have to hunker down and remember how hard it is. If only we could be as excited about school throughout the rest of the school year as well as on the first day.

Easter

Funnily enough Easter, the holiday celebrating rebirth and resurrection takes place in spring, when the earth is reborn or resurrected. This is one of my favorite things to think about around Easter. Not only the renewal of physical life, but spiritual life as well, when we can be born again because of what Jesus Christ did for us so that we could some unto our father in heaven again. Easter is more associated with the Easter Bunny and baby animals than it is with Christ, which when it comes to the Easter Bunny I don’t understand. Sure my parents told me about him, and everything, but he never made as big of an impression on me as Santa Clause did. But the baby animals I understand because of course it is spring when everything is being born. I think God had Easter, the celebration of Christ’s resurrection, in spring on purpose. Because it imprints on our minds more fully the rebirth of all things. Of which Christ made possible by his death and resurrection on this earth and I can’t think of anything more beautiful. Because of Jesus Christ we can be born again, we can always come back to God no matter how far we have strayed. No Matter How Far. Ah spring, the time to be reborn.

Spring

Ah spring! The season of new life and new hope! Everything seems a bit brighter in the spring whether it be the landscape or the attitude. I love watching things come back to life in the spring. In the mountains when we rake back the dead leaves and plants we reveal the new plants beginning to rise. The aspen trees start to take on a greenish hew after they lay their white seeds upon the ground like a warm fuzzy snow. The blue birds come back to nest in the trees and the chipmunks start scavenging the ground for the seeds the chickadees left behind. Flowers bloom, the sky turns blue, and it is beautiful. The sheep begin to lamb at this time, when we would go out to milk the cow every morning and evening we would check on the sheep to see if they had any lambs. For a couple weeks we would find some new lambs cuddled up next to each other or trying to walk almost every day. Watching the new life that spreads over the land, the new plants, and the new babies. I just don’t know how it all could come about without God and I don’t think anyone could ever convince me that it can.

The Seasons

I have always loved contemplating the seasons. They all seemed to have personalities and a certain magic about them. Spring would be a bright person, full of life and promise. It is innocent and hopeful. The magic it has is the magic of rebirth and the fresh start. Summer has a more down to earth personality. It likes to get things done and knows a bit more about the earth than spring does. The magic it possesses is the magic of life and laughter. Autumn has a more mystical personality. It is more laid back and thoughtful than the others. The magic it possesses is the magic of contentment and sleepy happiness. Winter has a quiet personality, sometimes it bursts out in anger, but it mostly just enjoys being there. The magic it possesses is magic of stark beauty and keen life. Another way of looking at the seasons that I’m sure everyone is familiar with is the way it mirrors the human life. Spring is the birth of a child, Summer is when it grows to adulthood, Autumn is when it grows old, and Winter is when it dies. And next year it starts all over again. This is what tells me that God is real.

New Beginnings

I know this is an old one but I thought it was appropriate for the new year.

Don’t you love being confronted with the new? A new book, a new house, a new piece of paper. Each are so full of potential you almost don’t know what to do with it. I love being faced with a new clean sheet of paper. I could do literally anything with it. As a writer, I can make whole new worlds with a blank sheet of paper and a pencil. A new book has so many secrets you have yet to uncover, a new year holds so much potential and so many opportunities just for you. It is really amazing when you think about it all. When you wake up in the morning so many things could happen to you and the next day another whole set of new things could happen. I think if we new how many new beginnings we experience everyday of our lives, we might be brighter people.