Thursday, March 20, 2008

In Celebration of Spring: Reflecting on Life's Purpose

Today the vernal equinox once again extends her hand of greeting, and I, for one, am quite grateful for the reintroduction. Somehow her welcome makes it possible for all of life’s hopes and dreams to once again flourish and bloom with the longer daylight hours that travel in spring’s caravan.

If I was in charge of things I might actually decree that life resolutions should be made on the first day of the vernal equinox, and not on the first day of the calendar year, because heralding the promised life of spring and reflecting on life’s goals seem so fundamentally complimentary.

Spring is an ideal time for goal-setting, because it opens a truth that is so often shrouded by busyness: goals don’t have to be about doing.

When I make goals on New Year’s they inevitably focus on action and performance. If I set goals on the first day of spring, they pivot upon becoming something beautiful, not through the merit of my doing, but through long days of basking in sunshine.

If the graceful tulips and the delicate cherry blossoms can bring joy to the soul and glory to their Maker through their elegant and colorful presence, then I must dare to believe that it is possible for me to find meaning, not in the mechanical work of my hands, but in the color and beauty that transcends the performance and interacts, not with matter, but with a soul.