Today I saw my first robin of the year. The little red-breasted bird is the traditional sign that spring has finally arrived in this part of the world (Erie, PA). The robin and squirrels chasing each other around and around tree trunks bring instinctive joy to an ice encrusted heart. The temperature yesterday broke records in this area for early April with it briefly hit 81 degrees. The winter was so long and bitter this past year. It is only in April that the cold weather has let up. The Easter weekend was the first bit of mild weather that we have seen in such a long time. I can still see ice on Lake Erie but it will be another few weeks before that disappears. Such is life in Erie, PA; the most snow bound city in the lower 48 states in winter 2013-2014 and falling short of that honor in winter 2014-2015 to only one or two other cities.
Easter is celebrated in Erie with enthusiasm because it often coincides with the first signs of spring. After being buried in so and ice for so long, Easter not only celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ but it seems to celebrate the resurrection of the whole world from the death of winter. It is so nice to be able to go outside and not need to bundle up to keep warm. It is so nice not to have the furnace constantly running to keep the house warm against the winter chill. Simply being in the sunshine is such a pleasure after months of clouds and grey weather.
All of the blessings of warm weather were part of my life for so many years and I took them for granted. Sunshine and balmy breezes were simply part of life. It was only when they were taken away from me after moving to Erie that I realized what a grace and blessing Saipan weather was.
That is the way with many of the good things that God gives us. We never seem to appreciate our good health until we lose it. We fail to appreciate the joys and opportunities of youth, until we begin to show our age and realize that the strength and endurance fades with the years. Most painful of all, we often fail to appreciate those we love while they are still with us. They just seem to be there and will always be part of our life. Then, one day our parents or our sibling or our spouse dies. Nothing is ever the same. A terrible wound is ripped in our heart with their loss. We realize that even if we are living in a virtual paradise, such as the CNMI, the loss of those we love makes us feel as if we were living in the coldest and darkest corner of winter.
Holy Week reminds us of the gaping wounds that have been ripped in our hearts as we focus on Christ’s crucifixion, while the images of those whom we have lost come to mind and get blurred with the image of the dying Christ. The beauty of Holy Week is that it ends. In the darkness of the Easter Vigil a light breaks the darkness. Loss is conquered with life, renewal and resurrection. The light of the Pascal Candle passes through the assembled community of believers and as it passes more and more people experience the light of resurrection until the church is awash with candle light. The Easter Vigil reminds us that loss is part of life but that in the end it is not loss that wins but life. The bitter cold of winter may immerse us in a type of death but there is an end and spring comes with new life.
