Even though we all have our natural preference, no season of the year is greater than any other. Each plays an indispensable role in a cycle of life greater than its individual parts; and each one serves the season that follows on its heels, enabling it to fulfill its purpose in a procession as timeless as the earth itself.
During the spring, great forces are released to work upon and within us. Just as life is beginning again everywhere around us, life is literally seeking itself through us, asking us to open ourselves and receive what will renew us.
But, if we would receive this new life, with all its promise, then we must be willing to sacrifice within us whatever stands in its way. We can only be made as new as we are willing to let go of who we have been, and springtime not only awakens this need within us -- it also grants us the possibility of its realization...
♦ Whenever we can remember that we would rather smile about what life brings us than suffer over it -- that our natural preference is happiness, not hurtfulness -- then in such moments of being mindful of what we love most... can't we also strive to remember how much better it is, for everyone, to brighten the life of another rather than to darken it in our forgetfulness?
♦ Our demands that life be what we want it to be do not make life more desirable... they only hide from us just how undesirable it is to be who we are in that moment.
♦ If we went through our day tending half as much to the care of God's business, as we give to our own affairs, then -- from the resulting light of gladness seen spreading across the faces of family, friends, and strangers alike -- the good truth would be obvious: taking care of God's business is what's best for our own!
♦ Look at what a person labors at and you will know what he loves. Look at what a man loves and you will know whom he serves. Look at what a man serves and you know his master. Look at a man's master and you know his destiny.
♦ No brighter tomorrow can dawn for us that isn't paid for each day by our work to better serve God's life, illuminate our self, and uplift the hearts of others.
