Blossoms
Although it's been a mild winter, I still find myself eagerly searching for signs of the returning spring. I find that just about everyone looks forward to this time of year. The days are growing longer, the temperatures are getting warmer, and new life is everywhere. For those of us living a more agrarian lifestyle, this is an incredibly busy season. Seeds must be started, soil prepared, eggs incubated, and firewood split and stacked to dry over the summer, along with countless other tasks, to prepare for the coming year. Although it can be a hectic time of year, it is quite possibly my favorite season.
For all who observe the biblical calendar and the feasts of our Creator, this time of year has extra meaning. Not only do four of the seven feasts (Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, and Pentecost) occur in the spring, but the Biblical new year also begins. I have always loved how the method of timekeeping set out by the Father keeps us grounded in the rest of His creation. The days do not begin in the middle of the night, but instead, they end and begin with the setting of the sun. The new year does not start in the dead of winter but rather with the blossoming of new life in the spring. Instead of a set number of days based on the superstitions of the Romans, the months correspond with the moon's phases. Although these methods may not be convenient for business or government, or other constructs of man, they help to align us with the rest of the natural world.
The distancing of ourselves from the natural world has been going on for a long time, particularly in "modern" societies. With every new convenience, we take one step further from the land. This separation has created an attitude of othering. Just as humans through the millennia have "othered" different groups of people to justify committing unspeakable evil against them, so too have we manufactured a non-existent divide between ourselves and nature. We created words like "outdoors" to mark a clear delineation between the artificial realms in which we dwell and that of every other living thing. This attitude has allowed us to rape the land, taking all we want and leaving only what we deem undesirable. Despite being a part of it, we have "othered" the natural world, giving ourselves permission to commit terrible acts against it.
As I sit here writing in the warm sun of late February, I can already spot trees beginning to bud and flowers ready to bloom. They are yet faint, but the signs of new life are slowly beginning to immerge. I breathe deeply and feel the earth beneath my bare feet; with a heart full of gratitude, I remain present and connected to the natural world with whose stewardship I am blessed, and know that with each passing day, we march ever closer to the last frost and the season of blossoms.