Showing posts with label Easter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Easter. Show all posts

Friday, April 22, 2011

Easter Doves part 3

Easter is the story of resurrection and new life.  In past Easter’s I have told you the saga of the Dove’s who try to nest in our grapevine; every year they build their nest in the crook of the vines’ old wood and the post that is part of our patio cover. It’s not sturdy or protected enough, so each year the nest falls apart, or the neighborhood cats pull it down with them barely escaping with their lives. One year John built a platform for them, when that wasn’t enough he made a cone out of chicken wire and tacked it on. That was better but still the cats scared them away before the eggs could hatch. This year he made a basket condo and for the last few weeks all is good. There is a tiny problem with the basket’s curve because the male dove has longer tail feathers and they are getting tweaked at the ends ;-) The female is in the nest peeking out through the slats.



Another thing that has new life in our yard is a lilac bush that has never bloomed, I think I planted it over ten years ago hoping it would cover the fence. This year it bloomed in this gorgeous color.





There is one more tale to tell about new life in our neighborhood. Awhile ago some neighbors moved and left behind their rabbits, which then took up residence across the street on our friends property. They do what bunnies do, so now we see Easter Bunnies everywhere, here are two who posed for pictures…






May you have the joy of new life...Happy Easter ;-)


Monday, March 3, 2008

Reflections on the Cross

Easter is early this year. It is time for all Christians to reflect on the cross, and it's meaning in our life. The cross is our common denominator, whether we view our cross as Catholics meditating on the Crucifix, or as Protestants rejoicing in the empty cross of Jesus the risen one. Easter is the time of year when we most clearly hear Jesus say "pick up your cross and follow me." Our cross is the one perfectly suited for us, it reminds us that we need God. Our cross is the one carried by Jesus to the foot of the throne in Heaven.

The cross is a thumbtack on the bulletin board of life, placed there by the hand of God to remind us of His love for us. The past culminates at the cross, and the present is determined by our response to it's meaning in our life.

I read somewhere that wearing a cross would be like the French wearing a guillotine around their necks. That would be true if we only viewed the cross as an instrument of torture and death, but as Christians the cross has redemptive power. It is for us an instrument of healing just like the pole with the bronze snake was for the Israelites that followed Moses through the wilderness, we look on it remembering that Jesus was lifted up on it and died so that we can live. read Numbers 21: 4-9..... Today I thank Jesus for my cross, the one he helps me carry.