The gift of Spring

At least in the Northern hemisphere, the Spring is here with its magnificent gift of blossoms and colour and the fresh beauty of the new leaves on the trees. We so take it for granted that the seasons will succeed each other - but that is one of the greatest of God's gifts to us in nature. We do not have anything like the control over the world and over our lives that we like to think we have. Almost everything that makes our lives possible is ultimately gift - the plants and animals that are the source of our food, the sun that warms us and nurtures us, the air we breathe. The moment we stop taking all this for granted is the moment when we begin to be truly thankful; and a young girl in a French monastery in Normandy summed it up in three words - Everything is grace! Not just the wonderful story of our redemption and salvation and heavenly destiny but also the natural world around us. In that sense, nature too is grace, the sign of the grace of God.