So will sing the boys and men of Magdalen College Choir this coming May morning.
But summer, or should I say spring, has taken a long time to ‘come in’ this year. As I write the daffodils have yet to emerge and we are many weeks since St David’s Day. I am one of those people who yearns for warmer days and shorter nights. Even in early April I will look to the skies in hope of seeing my first swallow and am overjoyed when our migrant guests return. Yet this year with the lingering winter cold I have been forced to dwell in this seemingly dead, depressing time and to gradually perceive the beauty which it holds.
We are very lucky to live in the countryside, to watch the seasons come and go; to daily have before our eyes the majesty and beauty of a tree without leaves. It was not the same when I lived in the city, where the only sign of spring was when a dirty black tree suddenly shot forth emerald leaves of the newest and startling kind.
People encounter God in different ways, but for many I think it is this lovely planet with its plants, rocks, clouds and animals which grow and fade yearly that touches our spirit. To drive across the ridge or twist and turn amongst the lanes is to daily be reminded of the Godly soil in which we are all rooted and grounded.
One of the reasons that Easter is such an inspiring festival is that it not only speaks of new life but is at a time when that new life is springing up all around us. As we journey from winter to spring, so we journey from the desolation of the cross to the joy of the empty tomb. Yet, let us not be too hasty to Passover the winter of the cross, but linger so that it too may speak to us of its darker beauty. For the story of Easter reminds us that now, at all times and in all places, we and all this world have been hallowed and sanctified by God’s entering so fully into it.
There is nowhere that God cannot be sought and found, be it in the depths of wintry despair or the sunshiny days of new life. So let us with those atop Magdalen tower sing with our hearts that through Christ summer has indeed come in and that though winter is sure to follow our song need not cease.
Emma Pennington, Team Vicar of Garsington, Horspath and Cuddesdon
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