It is spring at last!
Apologies to you who live in the northern hemisphere. Your turn will come, when old Earth drags itself 'round to your side of the sun, around next April, you may think of us beginning to think about fires in the evening - and lights, too, when Daylight Savings ends.
But it is spring in New Zealand. To me, who am colour-blind - I suffer from deuteranomaly, the colour of new leaves on English oaks is one of the most dazzlingly beautiful shades of green (because in fact it has a lot of yellow in it - and green is where my trouble lies) in nature.
I started yesterday evening to write a bit about the probably electoral victory of Senator Barack Obama in the U.S. presidential election next month. It got a bit bogged down. I left it for today. But today we went up to Helensville, to see Eddie, Eveline, Robyn, Jonnie, and Julian - and I have not the heart for it.
There is, indeed, something dismal about the likelihood of an Obama victory. I find it deplorable that a majority of American voters appear likely to ignore, or even to approve, the Senator's outrageous views on abortion - although this sort of thing might make you wonder how many are connected with policies at all. Senator Obama himself strikes me as a deeply misguided, very ignorant, young (for a politician) man who has mistaken sincere empathetic emotion for thought. Perhaps in this he reflects a great part of his electoral base.
Never mind. It is spring. I have my doubts as to just exactly how important the American President is in fact - though if the next President finds himself in a position to appoint any judges to the U.S. Supreme Court, the consequences may be significant.
Still, it is spring. I will rejoice in the spring experience of resurrection, of new life, of growth, even though it is certain that as, after spring comes summer, after summer autumn, so winter comes again, when all causes appear lost. It is not forever. A Resurrection has already come that is not a part of a natural cycle. A Spring will come, one day, that will be followed by no winter. A rising to new life may even now be in the ground, underneath the 'bitter snows' - waiting for the "Sun's love." No worldly event will be able to prevent it.
1 comment:
Mr. Obama has a talent for putting things in a way that sounds reassuring. Many US voters seem to be feeling rather battered by events these days, and want reassurance, hence Mr. Obama's appeal. I wish elections were less the popularity contests they seem to be, and were instead careful examinations of public policy, but I don't think I will ever get my wish. Ultimately, in these things, as in pretty much everything, one can only do one's best, and the rest is out of one's hands. So it is with elections. I think it is important not to let these things that we cannot control upset us too much. Comforting ourselves with the arrival of spring (or autumn, as it is here in Canada, with its beautiful colours) is a good idea; so is keeping in mind that the good Lord is with us in good and bad times alike, and his presence is better comfort than spring!
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