Embracing Spring

"We loiter in Winter while it is already Spring."

- Henry David Thoreau in Walden

Last Sunday we celebrated Easter. It is a glorious day in which we proclaim the resurrection of Christ, and the gift of life that he, through it, offers us. It truly is life from death; Spring out of Winter.

And yet for so many of us, we seem to linger, or in the words of Thoreau, "loiter" in Winter rather than accepting the Spring. How many of us hang on to our old selves (because we are comfortable in it?) rather than accepting the new, better creation that is ours to become?

Susan Boyle has become an overnight sensation. The video of her performance on "You've Got Talent Britain" is an internet classic. And yet she did not develop this gift of song overnight. She has had it for years. She just chose to hide it away, because of a self-image that wrongly convinced her she was worthless. She lingered in Winter, even though Spring was within her. To see her now, accepting the gift of the Spring, and sharing it with the world, is a most joyful thing to witness. May it encourage all of us to do the same.

The old has gone. The new has come. Spring is here. Put away your Winter coat and enjoy the sun.