The spring wind blows wildly today sending seeds and dreams in all directions. The yard angels   - not their real business name - came to estimate what spring cleaning needs to be done among the dead branches and winter debris. "You must cut away at the dead to make room for the life; it is better," he tells me.

My Lenten journey reveals the same lesson - removing the ancient debris and crippling attitudes that hinder a healthy life. The death/life paradox  of the Lenten/ Easter season announces itself in nature - and poetry.  John Donne, English poet, wrote: "Death and conception in mankind is one" in his poem On the Annunciation and Passion Falling upon One Day, 1608. Today, I listen to the voice of the poet, of the wind, and let go. 

(Note: In 2005, Good Friday fell on March 25th, which is ordinarily the Feast of the Annunciation. This symbolically rich concurrence is relatively rare, and occurs only twice in the 21st century - 2005 and 2016. After 2016, it will not occur for more than a century.)

 

In 2005, Good Friday fell on March 25th, which is ordinarily the Feast of the Annunciation.  This symbolically rich concurrence is relatively rare, occurring only three times in the 20th century (1910, 1921, and 1932), and twice in the 21st century (2005 and 2016).  After 2016, it will not occur again for more than a century

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