On our morning walk, another sign of spring — a forsythia bush in full bloom. Just now as I am sharing the image with you, I realize there’s a Saint Francis of Assisi statue in the background on the left. I don’t know if I’ve ever told you, kind and gentle reader, but I was raised Catholic. One of my favorite hymns was based on the Prayer of St. Francis, “Make Me a Channel of Your Peace.”

I like the idea of being a channel, an instrument of peace. In fact, my fundamental purpose in everything I do is to ease suffering, in myself and in the world. A few ways I’m doing that today are by noticing the signs of spring, sharing them where I can, and not giving up.

Buds are forming, blooms are opening, and things are starting to turn green again. There is more light and the days are longer. A beautiful writer I know wrote something about it the other day, saying something about how just when we thought we were trapped in the dark forever, just when we are about to give up, spring comes.