It's beginning to look a lot like Easter

Little by little I've watched and waited and finally spring is beginning to show itself! Even though the mornings are still pretty dark when I wake up and the cold is still with us, I can feel the energy welling up from deep in the earth. It is always a reminder that the creatures of the earth are tapped into this great energy and respond with life. New buds are coming forth and even the birds sing a different song when spring approaches. Then there's Easter: The first Sunday after the first full moon, after the Vernal Equinox. That is how it is calculated. Before Jesus it was the Passover...calculated, the first Sabbath after the first full moon, after the Vernal Equinox. Now that we are moving into what we Christians call Holy Week, there will be many cases where the preacher types come out and remind us all about how lucky we are that Jesus came to save us from our sins. This is an approach I've never really bought into. My friend on the other side speaks of this time of year and the challenges of being barraged by the same negative messages this way:

"Make no mistake. The “preacher types” will always be needed to make you strong, K. To stand resolute and to live out the gospel, as the Master did. Most of the time, he, the Master, spoke to a small group at a time and did his healing quietly. He was uncomfortable drawing any attention to his work. It was more important that the ones he shared with got it. He never said: “let’s go gather a stadium full of people so I can preach and teach and let’s do some healing of the sinners and the pathetic so they can convert and I can save them from their sins.” It never would have happened that way either. Because, as you, know, K, it is all about the Light that comes streaming from each aware and openhearted soul, of every microbe and creature, of every human heart. It is all about each choosing to be a shining vessel, an expression of the Source, The Creator, THE ONE. With ONE SO MAGNIFICENT, how can there be any other reality in all the universe? "

It seems to me, all of creation knows all about this too, because the daffodils and crocuses don't talk about religion or salvation, the bird songs and crickets all sing the songs of glory and praise and they do so with such great energy at the return of the light. Does this mean I don't care about the Christian Easter and that to me Jesus is irrelevant? Not at all. It's the emphasis that changes for me. During that last night in the garden where the story turns ugly for the Master when he is astonished about the sleeping disciples and he says: "won't you stay awake with me?" I think he was really talking about consciousness. Once aware of who we truly are, when we look into the Christ Mirror, the Mirror of Magnificence, going back to sleep is not an option. The Light of Spring is just too bright now to roll over and catch just a few more minutes of shut I. If you get my meaning......