Can you imagine an alien from another planet arriving in Kansas now to see the beautiful green grass and blooming flowers? The extra-terrestrial embraces his new experience enthusiastically and wants to stay forever. Then in a few months comes the Winter season and there is complete despair because everything dies and turns brown. They would have no hope, no anticipation of what was to come! Then Spring arrives and the rain commences and hope abounds...the green pastures and flowers return. What looks likes complete demise, is not dead at all, it is a part of the cycle!!!
These are universal themes of life. Easter and Passover could not be celebrated at any other season. Spring is the time when death becomes life, when captivity becomes liberty. You would think we would learn these lessons because darkness comes more often than once a year...right? Hope is not a pathetic default position, it is our path to life. Hope is our eager anticipation of something beautiful. I love to meet Elders with years of life experience, they seem to have a confidence about the future that some younger people don’t have. Perhaps it is because they’ve seen many seasons of life. What seems important at one point in life, fades in significance as you grow older. It is fun to hear our Elders talk about the ‘old days’ and even when the stories are dark and dramatic they emerge like mighty combatants who have survived and thrived. These wonderful Seniors have bloomed again and again. Let's learn the lessons from our Elders, hope will abound!