Easter is this Sunday. Every year Christians are able to celebrate the victory of our Lord over that most common of denominators, death. I’m so glad that I believe that the end of life on earth is not the end of life, but only a journey from this temporary home to an eternal one.

This year’s Easter holiday comes early. Many of us will be attending Sunrise Services and some are outside. Looking ahead, it seems the temperatures will be mild. That’s good, but it also looks as if an umbrella might be needed.

Sunrise Services on Easter are subject to Mother Nature’s whims of weather. I can remember at least one service where there was frost on the metal chairs, which made for a fairly cold seat and a chattering set of teeth. Thankfully, the preacher took it easy on us and decided to speak briefly. There was not too much hanging around and talking after the service.

I’ve also been involved with more than one Sunrise Service where the set-up was in a grove of live oak trees and next to a small pond. The date was in April and the warmth of spring had given rise to some fairly large and aggressive dive-bombers, also known as mosquitoes. There was a lot of hand slapping and waving and “hallelujah-ing” that morning, but not because of the sermon.

The celebration of our Lord’s resurrection is the most important Christian holiday of the year and that importance is greater than any presidential election we may be having. Earthly leaders change but the blessing of eternal life does not.

There is another resurrection of a sort that is also beautiful. It is not to be confused with the miraculous Sunday that we call Easter; that’s an incomparable experience. At the same time it is a remarkable resurrection of life in its own way.

Our green things like grass, leaves, and most plants and flowers take a hiatus during the winter. They go to sleep, rest, and we miss them. It is a rhythm that plays out every year.That rhythm begins to quicken toward the end of February and as the month of March moves forward. The trees begin to bud and grow their new leaves. The roadsides become green with all sorts of wild flowers and crimson clover. A look into the woods or around the neighborhood will bring the view of dogwood trees displaying their cross-shaped flowers.

And let us not forget the crosses that are made by our pine trees. Are crosses on dogwood and pine trees coincidental at Easter? Is anything coincidental about God’s world? A ride around our town will show thousands of azalea bushes, many times nestled up against some pine tree and, right now, going wild with a variety of colors. It’s God’s paintbrush at work.

Amateur and professional gardens are beginning to blossom and, soon, the Confederate Jasmine I wrote about last week will be blessing us with their soothing fragrance.

Mother Nature is awakening from her long, hard sleep of winter. It’s almost as if she has picked out another colorful wardrobe for a new year. It’s her version of resurrection.

Year after year, Mother Nature uses a formula or pattern and the colors are the same. The amazing thing is that even though the same pattern and colors are used each year, Mother Nature always looks bright and new.

My hope for this Sunday is that even when we hear the Good News we heard last year, we’ll be as impressed as ever at our Lord’s miraculous resurrection.