Sound and Silence

Greetings from Lake Michigan! It is 62 degrees and sunny; a simply gorgeous day.

Yes, I know. It has been spring for nearly a month now. But who's counting? Spring in Wisconsin in almost nonexistent. Nothing but winter, winter, winter, mud, then -- BAM -- it's summer.

That's not the point of this, however.

Have you ever noticed how the world is so much quieter in the wintertime? There is a silence that blankets everything, like the snow that blankets the grass, trees, and houses. The wind does not sweep through the trees with the same sound; there are no leaves. There are no birds singing; they spend winter in warmer climes. There is even a silence where you expect to hear the bugs and insects.
In the winter, though the white snow is one of the most beautiful sights, the world is dead.

And then in the spring we see the grass once more, though it may be brown and lifeless for a short time. But suddenly the world awakens! You can blink and the green appears. Birds sing once more, leaves bud on the trees that no longer look barren and haunted. No longer is the world silent.

What a perfect picture of resurrection! It is no wonder that we celebrate Easter in the springtime. Just as the world dies in the autumn and appears lifeless all winter, Jesus Christ died on the cross on that first Good Friday and was dead in the tomb for three days.
Just as the world awakens to new life each spring, Jesus Christ rose from the tomb, fully alive, on that first Easter morning.

Cherish the changing of the seasons, just as God cherished His fallen creation enough to send His only Son to die a horrible death and rise again that we might receive eternal life with Him.