March Madness

We've all heard those little sayings like "March Madness," "March Ahead" or "Spring Ahead," or how about "Beware of the Ides of March"? This is a possible reference to the assassination in 44 of Julius Caesar. My favorite, the "March Winds."

March Madness could possibly mean...Mother nature make up your mind, already. March winds we are familiar with every year, and they have not disappointed us today. I like moving forward toward Spring, with each day becoming a little bit longer and brighter, while observing the tell-tale signs all around us now in nature.

It is a time for cleaning up the dirt from the mess of winter. I like to go through draws and closets to remove outdated or out grown items to make room for the new ones. Like Spring cleaning, it's time to renew, period.

It's time for lighter and brighter colors, and a time for watchfulness that we don't get stuck or weighed down by the past but adventure into the new, feeling like a new person. Put on the hope and promise of the Lenten Spring, as in the Poem of Saint John of Damascus of the 8th century tells us "for Christ God has carried us over from death to life, from earth to heaven." (The first Ode Sung on Pascha).

Neglect not to heed the warning, found in one of Wm. Shakespeare's plays, to "Beware of the Ides of March," "a great danger ," because...you never know what is lurking around the corner.

March has arrived. It's a time to "Spring forward," and become renewed from the death of winter to the Spring of Life. For which we are eternally thankful.