The Faith of Spring

Spring is a season of faith.

Not the kind of faith that asks us to believe that Ra spoke and the sun rose and the winds blew, nor the kind of faith that asks us to believe that beyond death there is peace and freedom and reunion with those who have gone before. There’s a place for that kind of faith, but that’s the faith of Samhain.

The faith of Spring and the faith of Ostara is the faith of our parents and grandparents, the faith of experience. The faith of Spring says that if we plant the seeds then we’ll reap the crops, because that’s what happened last year and the year before that and the year before that. It tells us that even if our previous crops were stricken by drought or blight, plant anyway.

The faith of Spring tells us not to despair. The faith of Spring tells us to do the right things for the right reasons and good things will come, if not this year, then next year; and if not next year, then the year afterward. For the faith of Spring also reminds us that if we don’t plant, our harvest is certain to be nothing.

19th century Unitarian minister Theodore Parker said “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” It is indeed long – some of us may not see the harvest. But as we have faith that Spring will follow Winter, we can have faith that the harvest will follow the planting, and Justice will prevail.

Have a blessed Ostara and a faithful Spring!