Levitan painted several versions of apple orchards in bloom. This is a young orchard. The ground is green-ing; the sky is blue. There is a house off the back margin of the grove of trees and Levitan has kindly placed a bench for us under the nearest tree, where we can sit and take it all in. "Take it all in" might refer to the scent of the tree-flowers and the buzzing of the bee-pollinators. It is Spring!
And for the Christian it is Spring TWICE because it is Lent and Lent is called The Church's Springtime. Notice, not:
the Church's misery time,
the Church's give-up time,
the Church's suffer more time,
the Church's punishment time...
but Springtime!
Not knowing how to go about it, the idea might make some Christians nervous. Lots of people think the rigour of Lent is the fasting aspect. I wouldn't agree with that. I could eat nothing for forty days and come out the other side starved, but with no interior work having been undertaken.
The Lenten Springtime is an inner movement, a call to creativity, as the earth itself is being seasonally re-created. How might these Springtime metaphors signify in my life. Springtime means:
The Lenten Springtime is an inner movement, a call to creativity, as the earth itself is being seasonally re-created. How might these Springtime metaphors signify in my life. Springtime means:
- Thaw out
- Melt
- Warm
- Plant
- Take root
- Sprout
- Get green
- Grow
- Hatch
- Fly
- Wake-up
- Come out from underground
- Come out of the cave
- Break out of the cocoon.
- Bloom
Of course, someone might say this diminishes the business of Lent because these are "just metaphors" meaning not real. But I would say metaphors are most real as they can name what is close, deep and personal in my own unique life. Metaphor can be much more scary than the thought of not eating sweets for forty days, and much more exciting, engaging and transformative.
I mean, come Easter, I want to have grown and changed somewhat, don't you think?
