Morning Thanks

Garrison Keillor once said we'd all be better off if we all started the day by giving thanks for just one thing. I'll try.

Friday, April 07, 2017

Morning Thanks--Easter


Is any sedum ordinary? With hundreds of varieties, it seems no single plant looks like any other, so to claim some blessed uniqueness for this particular one may be a stretch. Nonetheless, what you see here is plain old ordinary sedum. Still, it's an an absolutely extraordinary moment, don't you think?

It's April, and today the sun will grow some balmy temps. We're a week from Easter, which just happens to come at the same time as sweet reminders like this of new life unshackled. 

My father-in-law used to say that if you listen closely you can hear the seed rustling in the bag, so anxious it is to get itself out and into the ground. 

The word Easter, some say, has its roots in pagan mythology, specifically some Anglo-Saxon goddess named Eostre, who ruled the dawn and was worshiped every spring throughout the British Isles and into Northern Europe. Worshiped for this kind of activity, I'm guessing.

If that's true, then it's an abomination for some Christians, greatly uncomfortable with the notion that Jesus's triumph over the grave could be linked in any way, shape, or form to some heathen pagan ritual. Almost sinful to even consider.

Thus, some Christians like to trace the word easter to pesach, the Hebrew word for "passover," thereby scrubbing it cleam of any possible unGodly connotations. 

I'll let others fight that one out. What makes me smile on days like today is that Easter falls somewhere around the moment phenomena like this suddenly and miraculously appear in the backyard. In a couple of months, our what's out there will be full of plants more than happy to pose for my camera. Right now, this is just about all there is. 

But this ordinary sedum is gorgeous, don't you think? It's Easter.

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