Speaking of Spirit

Baby Cardinal Outside My Window (c) 2020 Rev. Linda M. Rhinehart Neas   "The older you get, the less sleep you need."  This maxim was quoted to me in my youth by many of my elderly family and friends as an explanation of why they would be "up with the birds." Thing is, I never believed it to be true since many of them took long afternoon naps!   That being the case, I find myself up with the birds today. The sun has hardly crested North Sugarloaf Mountain, and I am wide awake wondering why. After all, at 5:45 it is still fairly dark. The birds singing didn't wake me because I can't hear them until I put in my hearing aids.  So, why am I wide awake?   Some people believe that waking early is a call from Spirit to rise and commune with the Divine.  Not sure if this is so, but I do know that when I find myself up and about in the wee hours, I usually use the time to pray, to write and to appreciate Nature.    Even in the semi-lig...

This weekend, two major holy days are observed.  Jews around the world will be celebrating Passover, while Christians will be observing Easter. (Actually, Eastern Christians will celebrate Easter; Western Christians celebrate Palm Sunday this weekend.) During these holy days, words like rebirth, renewal and resurrect are part of the daily vocabulary. After all for those who live in the Northern Hemisphere, this IS the time for rebirth, renewal and resurrection.  Winter is over; spring has begun.  Life is reappearing in the form of buds and bits of green pushing through the dark soil. However, this all happens so fast, that at times it seems we go to bed and when we awake, the world is in full bloom once again. The key word in that last sentence is "awake." I found it interesting to learn that a synonym for renewal was awakening .  When we are fully aware, we are awakened to the life around us.  We see what we did not notice before. This weekend, reg...