by Sir Knight Donald Craig Kerr
April showers bring May flowers, so it is said. That means spring is here. Springtime is pleasure time. We feel and enjoy the beauty of nature. As we look around, we see nature putting on a new face, and that reflects happiness. To see nature returning its blossoms of fragrance is to believe "God's in His heaven; all's right with the world." Some do not see it that way. Maybe they can't, but if we can believe in optimism and enthusiasm, it helps us to look up and not down. Things may not always be at their best. If, however, we can make them look a little brighter, we have done something worthwhile.
Springtime brings together two important festivals. One is Passover and the other is Easter. The miracle of resurrection and the freedom of life go hand in hand with the rebirth of nature. The time for Christ's resurrection from the dead was in the spring of the year, when anemones and wild flowers along the Judean hills would be bursting in bloom. When Moses led his enslaved people of Israel out of Egypt to the Promised Land, it may have been springtime.
All of this suggests hope. From what appears dead, new life emerges. Hope is an action of creativity which only God has the power to bring to fruition. Passover and Easter are not man-made schemes to shock and bewilder the world. They are wonders and miracles originating with God. They are given to restore our faith in knowing that nothing stays the same but that life is always changing and being transformed. The mood of this festival time compels us to break the spell of apathy and to seek the light and hope that dispels the shadows of doubt and fear.
The Reverend Sir Knight Donald C. Kerr, a member of Beauseant Commandery No. 8, Baltimore, MD, is Pastor-emeritus of the Roland Park Presbyterian Church in Baltimore. He resides at 700 John Ringling Boulevard, Apt. E202, Sarasota, FL 34236-1586