The other day, Eddie said to me “you can tell it’s been a cold winter, our daffodils aren’t starting to bloom. They are staying toasty warm in the ground” As with Autumn , the change always happens nearly overnight. Our daffodils (and crocuses, and hyacinths) are starting to put up shoots, and I can hear birds in the morning and frogs in the pond at night. While I love cold and cozy days, until I lived in Washington, I never realized how amazing watching the world burst forth into Spring feels. And, it is a bursting forth that is greatly captured by our joyous celebration of Pascha (Easter) after a long Lent (an observation not lost in the history of the word Lent)

Another natural phenomenon we were able to enjoy last night was the lunar eclipse. I hope everyone in the Northern Hemisphere was able to see it as well. Usually we miss astronomical events due to cloud cover, so it was a nice surprise. Unlike Belladonna, though, we didn’t see the meteor.

Happy early Spring! Happy Thursday!

(photo credit )

Jesus hung out with tax collectors. We have entered the Triodion, which is the service book which will take us through Lent (and you were right, Philippa, it was this Sunday and not last, blush). Last week, in a pre-pre-Lenten Sunday tradition , we heard the reading of Zacchaeus, and this past Sunday was the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee.

Something that stood out for me this year (and pointed out by our priests) was that both Zacchaeus and the Publican were tax collectors. While no one loves the idea of paying taxes these days, in Christ’s time, tax collectors were really hated as they not only worked for the unpopular occupiers, but would regularly take a cut of the profits so tried to collect as much as they could. I don’t think it is a small thing that Lent and Tax Season usually collide for those of us in the United States (and perhaps in other countries as well)

Now, why is it important that Jesus hung out with tax collectors? It isn’t to encourage us to explore career opportunities in the IRS, but to teach us as we head into Lent that no matter who we are, where we are in life, or what we do – we have an annual chance to repent and look towards the Kingdom of Heaven. And to focus on where we are and where we need to be and NOT where our friends, family members, church members and the guy down the street are.

On a side note, our priest when he was over blessing our house earlier this month commented (as my teenager sat upstairs not eating cupcakes and drinking coffee with us) that he often wonders if Zacchaeus had teenagers and what their reaction was when he came home with Christ as a houseguest.

May you have a wonderful week of the Publican and the Pharisee

(icon source)