Beneath the crust of earth, seeds and bulbs lay in store.

Beneath the snow, life is bursting, preparing for the next season.

I hope that this Great Silence, which has come alongside the suffering, holds the beginnings of our healing.

Leader 1: At this time of balance, at this time of awakening,we celebrate Ostara, the Spring Equinox. Leader 2: We honor the fertile Earth. We honor the warming breezes. Leader 1: We Honor the waxing light. We honor the nurturing rains....

However imperfectly I may be living this life of mine, there’s no one better at it, and there’s no one else who can do it for me.

No hot house flowers, these, bred for perfection, dyed and trimmed, and arranged to order, clothed in ribbons and bows. Not these. No, these are hardy, raw and wild. Grown under the sky, they’ve weathered the wind and the rain and the heat. These drew nutrients from the neighborhood soil and...

Leader: Quick! Look about you! The snows of Winter are gone and the Earth has awoken once more! Congregation: Hail the Spring in all her green glory! L: The brave small flowers push up from the warming soil; birds return from their southerly homes; the first buds appear on the trees....

EARTH, clay from which we are made and to which we will return. Soil, rich and aromatic, crumbling in my fingers, dark under my nails. This, cleansing dirt, the natural filter for aquifers, holds life....

If we lived in another climate Our souls might speak other languages We might speak oasis or permafrost, dry season or monsoon But our souls speak spring Our souls speak green shoots pushing through last year’s leaves Our souls speak flower buds stretching to sun Our souls speak mud puddle and...

As the first hint of green begins to peek through the barren ground As that little sprig grows into a healthy stem As that stem grows into a stalk and forms a bud As that bud slowly opens with each new day To form a yellow daffodil Let us be, like that first hint of green, renewed by the warm of ...

For the sound of bow on string, Of breath over reed, Of touch on keyboard; For slants of sunlight through windows, For shimmering shadows on snow, For the whisper of wind on my face; For the smooth skin of an apple, For the caress of a collar on my neck; For the prickling of my skin when I am dee...

What a gathering—the purple tongues of iris licking out at spikes of lupine, the orange crepe skirts of poppies lifting over buttercup and daisy. Who can be grim in the face of such abundance? There is nothing to compare, no need for beauty to compete. The voluptuous rhododendron and the plain...

May you know fully and deeply the blessings of each of your heart's seasons The inward turning of Winter Springtime's lush renewal The effortless, steady growth of summer And autumn's rich harvest May your passage from season to season be blessed— Eased by hands to hold, and by the light of love...

The earth is warming, the birdsong increases, the sweeter breezes brush our cheeks, and the earth holds hope in its seeds and buds....

There are two things we can learn from a daffodil to help ourselves and each other.