The Hope Of Spring

This post is written to link with Five Minute Friday: write for five minutes on a one-word prompt. The prompt today is “spring.”

Spring has always been my favourite season.

As the days get longer and warmer and the flowers start to bloom, it stirs up hope, after a long, dark winter that brighter days lie ahead.

However, after the last two years, I think the coming of spring will always be intertwined with memories of the pandemic. The photo at the start of this post was taken in 2020 right at the start of lockdown, an attempt to find colour and beauty in the midst of the fear and uncertainty that gripped us all.

As I walked in the same park this morning, just the sight of the daffodils brought back the memories of those days – those beautiful spring days spent inside anxiously watching the news, the concern for loved ones, the loss of all normality.

It stirs my emotions more than I expected, and I don’t think my perception of spring will ever be quite the same.

But this spring, there is much to be grateful for.

This week I have met with friends, I have played music with others, I have been to church in person, I have worked with young people face-to-face, I have been to the theatre – I have done many “normal” things that wouldn’t have been possible last year or the year before.

COVID is still causing disruption and complicating life, but there’s also the sense that spring is coming, that the days are brighter and normal life is resuming – a sense of hope and a reminder that while we will have cold days and dark days, they will not last forever.

“Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning.” (Psalm 30:5 NLT