All Nature Sings

I know that the season of spring officially started ten days ago, but spring and Easter are so closely entwined in my mind that the arrival of spring represents a huge part of my Easter celebration. Before you write that off as one more reason to suspect me of heathenness, let me remind you that for most of my life I was guided by the principle that Easter Sunday was the earliest day in the year when it was acceptable to wear white shoes. White shoes on Good Friday? "Good grief, it's too early!" But white shoes on Easter? "Yay! Look at those brand-new, shiny, white shoes and that pastel-blue, dotted-swiss dress with it's short puffed sleeves. It's Easter, and spring is here!"

There's also the fact that the whole concept of resurrection is symbolized by spring in its budding trees, blooming flowers, fresh green grass, and nests full of baby birds. It isn't a coincidence that rabbits and eggs, fertility symbols if ever any there were, are forever linked to Easter.

These days I think of the earth as my church, and the presence of God feels stronger to me in nature than it ever did on Easter Sundays spent squirming on hard pews. The only things I miss about church in its traditional sense are choir voices singing in harmony and pipe-organ music that reverberated all the way to my bones.

There's one traditional Easter hymn that means more to me than all the rest I remember. I can't even count how many versions of it I watched and listened to on YouTube before finding just the right one to share with you here. This version, with its soft-voiced singer and moving images, expresses my feelings beautifully:

Happy Easter, everybody!

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The song is "This is My Father's World," written by Maltbie D. Babcock, performed by Geoff Moore. Thanks to Michael Sturgulewski for creating this lovely video and posting it on YouTube. Click here to read the lyrics.