I've always thought that, and not just because April is my birthday month. April is also the birthday month of several people in my family, which means that, growing up, I associated April with parties. We always got together with my father's side of the family one Sunday in April to celebrate all of those birthdays, and with my mother's side of the family, to celebrate all of those birthdays, too. Whoopee! We were having cake all month!
Easter is also in April, which should be the main thing, and is, really. It's not just Easter Worship (although you do have to sing "Jesus Christ is Risen Today", and mean it), but it's Easter itself, which is spring, but not the same as spring, more than spring. Easter means that the things you thought were impossible are possible, that the gardener you see pruning the vines may not really be the gardener, that love and beauty and justice and forgiveness are really true, and possible.
I used to get out Dvorak's New World Symphony and play it on Easter Sunday because, I thought, Easter isn't just about our own individual lives. It's about the new world that God is bringing into being.
April is also when spring peeks through here in Minnesota. Sometimes we don't really get fully into spring here until May, but April is when the hope kicks in.
In April six years ago our favorite dog, Scout, came home. She was just over six weeks old. I picked her up from the nursing home on Friday afternoon and listened to her howl all the way home. We made many mistakes (all by accident of course) when we first got Scout. But when she curls up on her bed as we are going to sleep, and I hear her sigh, I believe that she is a good dog.
April is the coolest month.
3 comments:
My dad and uncle both have April birthdays and their folks' anniversary was April. My uncle's first daughter was born on my dad's birthday and my son was born on their shared birthday. April gets a lot of play in our family, too. And that Easter thing.
I agree. April is the coolest month. My mom and her sister were born on April 4th and 6th. Here, April means Youth Sunday (always wonderful) and yes, Easter. And tulips and Cadbury eggs and women wearing hats in church. I love April, too.
April is not a big birthday month in my family, nor in my extended family - although I have a number of friends with April birthday's. I loved April in Arizona because we had endless days of sun and 80 degree temps - just perfect weather. Here in Chicago April only hints at what is to come - slightly warmer, some sunny beauitful days, and frequent threats of severe weather, some blooming flowers and bushes - most of the blooming happens in May. April is the month of no-return - really when we know that winter will not return with any substance until the end of the year. April really is a great month.
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