My favourite day of the year comes just before Christmas. Depending on the year it might be the 20, 21 or 22nd of December – it’s the winter solstice. People are often surprised when I tell them this, given that they know that I’m not a fan of winter, and the winter solstice marks the start of….. Winter! But in my mind at least it, actually marks the start of spring! Yes, I know it’s still cold and dark, but from that moment onwards I know that the days are getting longer and therefore I know that spring will come!
Some people notice the arrival of spring with improvements in the weather. The problem with doing this in the UK is that we can have all four seasons in one day. Indeed, I’ve known days in the middle of winter to be warmer than in high summer. Last July I was driving into town in the middle of the day when I noticed that the thermometer on the dashboard was registering just 12 degrees Celsius! If it hadn’t been for the leaves on the trees, I could have been forgiven for thinking it was December. Therefore, I find a more reliable way to observe the arrival of spring is to watch the plants rather than the weather.
The first harbingers of spring are the snow drops… this year I was delighted to notice one lone snow drop in the front garden on New Year’s day. Next to come are the crocuses springing up with joyful abundance wherever they are. I was recently walking through a rather run down part of inner-city Manchester but was stopped in my tracks by a swathe of bright tulips – an invasion of beauty into an otherwise bleak landscape.
My favourite arrival of all though has to be the humble daffodil. From January onwards I regularly buy bunches of them – I’m not sure anything else can bring such joy for £1! I then keep my eyes peeled for the first daffodil to flower in the garden. And although for a few days it was something of a lone ranger, within a week the whole garden and many of the verges on the surrounding roads have become a sea of yellow.
Along with the spring colours, I also love the arrival of spring fragrances. A few years ago, I flew from the UK to New Zealand – leaving behind our winter and arriving in the height of summer. As I walked down to the beach near Auckland, the first thing I noticed was the beautiful fragrance of the surrounding plants. It made me realise that winter is often devoid of any scent at all.
The first scents of spring normally come from the sarcacossa (winter box). I was walking through the university in Reading at the end of January and I noticed they had masses of it across the campus – the fragrance was intoxicating and brought such joy despite the otherwise dreary weather. Next up comes the Daphne – when I first smelt the flowers of one I immediately went and bought one for our garden. After several years of growth it has this year flowered for the first time. I think my neighbours must have thought I had lost the plot when I got down on my hands and knees on the patio to get a whiff of the first flower to open!
Now I realise that I may be slightly obsessive in my interest in the sights and smells of spring flowers, but I haven’t yet met anyone who hasn’t admitted to at least some joy at the sight of the first daffodils of spring. They tell us that winter is ending, and spring is coming. The days are getting longer and, with any luck, the weather is going to improve. At some point, there comes a day when it actually starts to feel warm again. I love observing people on that first sunny, warm day of spring – even the queue of people at the bus stop on the way to work had smiles on the faces. It seems we all love spring. But why?
I think the answer is – hope. Spring brings with it the hope that things will get better. Winter will not last forever. Summer will come. But I think spring awakens a deeper hope in us. As we look at our broken and divided world we hope for so much more. An end to violence, injustice and conflict. A hope that the world could become a better place – but will it?
According to the Christian story the answer is yes. The Bible tells us that the world we live in is not the way it once was – something has gone wrong and we see the evidence of it all around us. But the Bible also says that the world we live in is not the way it one day will be – this broken world will be put right. Christian hope it not about escaping our world to go to some celestial paradise – in fact quite the opposite. The penultimate chapter of the Bible describes how heaven comes to earth!
‘Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”’ – Revelation 20:1-14
The Bible looks forward to a day when our world will be put right. Death will not have the final world. Eternal spring will come. Indeed, one of the main things people observed about the early Christian community was their hope. One early Christian leader instructed other believers to be ready to explain the reason for the hope that they had. Their hope, in the midst of suffering and hardship, was so noticeable it provoked questions. The social historian, Rodney Stark, pointed out that one of the ways early Christians demonstrated their hope was their willingness to risk their lives to care for others during the plagues that periodically swept through the Roman Empire. This tangible expression of their hope led not only to many people surviving the plague through their care, it also caused them to embrace the same faith.
In fact, in the Bible we find that the very passing of the seasons is meant to remind us of this ultimate reality. The Jewish year didn’t start in the middle of winter like ours does in the Northern Hemisphere – but in the autumn. So, in the Bible, each year went from the death of winter to life of summer! This cycle of the seasons was reinforced by the cycle of the days. Again, unlike our own, Biblical days didn’t start at midnight but at dusk. Just as each year was a journey from death to life, so each day was journey from darkness to light.
Could it be that our love of spring reflects a deeper longing and a greater reality. The trajectory of history is not towards death but life, not darkness but light. My favourite description of spring in all of literature comes in CS Lewis’ children’s classic, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. The magical land of Narnia has been held under a curse by the White Witch so that it is ‘always winter and never Christmas.’ However, the coming of Aslan the great lion, breaks the power of the witch’s magic and ushers in the start of spring. What normally takes place over the course of several months happens in a matter of minutes. Lewis vividly portrays the arrival of spring and describes the children’s wonder and joy at the rapid advance.
The Christian imagery in the book is quite clear – Aslan is the Christ figure who alone can bring an end to the power of evil and usher in the spring of new life. Although the twist is that bringing in that life will also require his own voluntary death.
Lewis’ friend, JRR Tolkien also employed the cycle of the seasons in his best-known classic – The Lord of the Rings. The book takes place over the course of one year – travelling through the darkness of winter. Yet while it is often dark and cold, the main characters always long to return to the shire in time for the start of summer!
Perhaps the reason we love spring is that deep down, we long for an eternal spring. We hope that death and darkness will not have the final word, life and light will yet come. If the Bible’s vision of reality is correct, then our love of spring really does point us towards something even greater. According to the Bible, death has been defeated through the death of Jesus – and nothing can stop spring from coming.
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