‘Nothing is as beautiful as Spring

When weeds in wheels shoot long and lovely and lush.’

G.M. Hopkins

This thought came to mind on looking out my bedroom window earlier this week. After weeks of rain, wind, fog and an overall greyness and gloom the land was sodden, drenched, weeping profuse tears of sadness. The greyness of winter covered the land and for many people, their spirits resembled the weather. When will this darkness end?

And then-

In the teeth of a cold and raw wind, tiny snowdrops appeared ‘from nowhere’ under the trees as a prelude to the joy of the awakening of Nature into a new life of warmth, sunshine, abundance and colour. But not yet! In this ‘in between time’ we must wait a little longer, we must hope and believe. But sure as the dawn, it will come. All around us the new life which warms our hearts and our spirits invites us to recognise a greater Presence. This voice beacons us to awaken and recognise the hope to which we are called. This call in an invitation to joy.

The Celtic woman, Brigid, who is celebrated as Mary of the Gael, heard this invitation to joy and spent her live sharing it. Her feast ushers in the beginning of Spring on February 1st.

In the words of the’ Song of Songs’.

‘Come, my love, come with me,

The winter is over, the rains have stopped

In the countryside the flowers are in bloom.

This is a time for singing,

The song of doves is heard in the fields.

Brigid’s recognition and experience of this call to live through love in God’s Presence impelled her to found a monastery and minister to the poor.

The beauty of the world around us is our mentor and guide, our Wisdom teacher. The Psalmist cries

‘How clearly the sky reveals God’s glory!

How plainly it shows what God has done!

Each day announces it to the following day:

Each night repeats it to the next.’

Psalm 18

Patrick Kavanagh rejoiced because he saw nature as God’s hiding place where

This beautiful, beautiful God

Is breathing His love in a cutaway bog’.

Tagore too is filled with joy as he recognises a greater Love inviting him,

‘Listen, my heart, to the whispers of the world

with which it makes love to you.’

Hafiz delights in

‘ A Love so deep and

sweet, it needed to

express itself with scents, sounds, colours that never before existed’.

At this time, as Nature awakens in readiness to reveal her beauty, we too must awaken to receive and savour this treasure. It offers us joy, that for which we came to be.

In the Christian Way, we are also offered ‘Eternal Newness and Joy’ in coming to know the Person of Jesus Christ. Pope Francis, in the words of his recent Exhortation describes this-

“I invite all Christians, everywhere, at this very moment, to a renewed personal encounter with Jesus Christ, or at least an openness to letting him encounter them; I ask all of you to do this unfailingly each day. No one should think that this invitation is not meant for him or her, since “no one is excluded from the joy brought by the Lord”.[1] The Lord does not disappoint those who take this risk; whenever we take a step towards Jesus, we come to realize that he is already there, waiting for us with open arms. Now is the time to say to Jesus: “Lord, I have let myself be deceived; in a thousand ways I have shunned your love, yet here I am once more, to renew my covenant with you. I need you. Save me once again, Lord, take me once more into your redeeming embrace”. How good it feels to come back to him whenever we are lost! Let me say this once more: God never tires of forgiving us; we are the ones who tire of seeking his mercy. Christ, who told us to forgive one another “seventy times seven” (Mt 18:22) has given us his example: he has forgiven us seventy times seven. Time and time again he bears us on his shoulders. No one can strip us of the dignity bestowed upon us by this boundless and unfailing love. With a tenderness which never disappoints, but is always capable of restoring our joy, he makes it possible for us to lift up our heads and to start anew. Let us not flee from the resurrection of Jesus, let us never give up, come what will. May nothing inspire more than his life, which impels us onwards!”

The beauty, freshness and awakening of Nature in Spring is God’s invitation to us.