There's something about the cycle of nature that warms my heart...

SPRING IS COMING!!!!!

I’m so excited!!

A bit ago, my wife texted me that she forgot something when she left for an early morning appointment, so she was coming back home to grab it. I told her to let me know when she was one minute away, and I would meet her in the driveway with the bag she needed so she wouldn’t need to pull into the garage, park, get out of the car and come in…

So when she texted me she was almost here, I went out on the porch to wait.

I looked over at the pillow which has become very very dirty over the winter with all the rain.

I thought, “Yuck, I’ll just toss that. It’s 4 years old and should be replaced.”



When I lifted up the pillow, this is what I found underneath:

Two tiny speckled eggs!!!

Obviously, I quickly replaced the pillow as it had been. That dirty pillow will stay where it is until those babies are hatched and flying on their own!

I can replace the pillow in the summer.

And yes, the pillow has a birdie on the front of it. I like birdie themed things, so I am totally excited about this tiny little nest right outside the window where I sit and type every day...

What strikes me is this:

Here I am, dealing with the emotions of losing my dear cat, after 17 years, and these two tiny eggs this morning, such an unexpected surprise, have reminded me that it is a cycle. Everything is a cycle of change.

We humans have it all messed up in our heads. We think we, and those we love, are going to live forever. Death devastates us. Loss and grief grips us, sometimes nearly taking us under.

And yet, the cycle of nature continues. Every day, people die. And every day, babies are born.

It’s the season to talk about death and birth, afterall. For Christians, it is death and resurrection, and for Jews, it is the death of bondage and slavery and the rebirth into freedom.

Spring, after a long winter, reminds us every year: death isn't the end of the story. Bondage and slavery isn't the end of the story. Birth, resurrection, re-birth, freedom... it's all part of the cycle of nature.

Pesach is called both Z’man Cheirutainu and Chag ha’Aviv, and both of these names relate to the idea of renewal.  Chag ha’Aviv means the festival of spring, and spring is the time of year when nature rejuvenates itself and we look at things  anew.  Cheirut means freedom, and z’man cheirutainu means season of our freedom. Freedom, too, connects to newness.

This Friday evening at sundown, Passover (Pesach) begins. And every year we tell again the same story, the story from slavery to freedom. As we discuss the story yet again, we are told that we must envision ourselves not just participating in the process, but actually being there in the here and now.

Part of the annual ritual is to ask Mah Nishtana? Four times we ask, What is different or has changed tonight? And after we ask what is different, what has changed, then we ask why. Why has this changed? Why do we do this differently from all other nights?

One thing I love about Judaism is this questioning and even arguing with G!d. We never just accept the facts as they are, but we wrestle and probe and argue and ask and question, to understand, to learn a new or deeper meaning, to perhaps discover new possibilities.

As we continue our annual journey through this season, let’s not forget to celebrate the little joys, such as finding a nest filled with eggs in the most unlikely place, and let’s not forget to think about the ways we are bound and the ways we might need to do something different in order to become free.

Sameach chag ha’Cheirut! Happy Festival of Freedom!

(Oh, and if you are curious about what kind of bird eggs these are on my porch, they appear to be house sparrows.)