A pastor friend of mine had a mini crisis when he faced his first Easter as a minister in Minnesota. In his previous church, he had always used the coming of spring as a metaphor for Easter. A Minnesota Holy Week snowstorm necessitated a change of metaphor. The glory of a snow-covered Easter landscape did not have the same cachet as a flowery spring landscape. He and Easter both survived and celebrated the resurrection and new life effectively. While Easter is far more than the rebirth of the seasons, I have always found that the re-emerging of spring brings Easter to my mind. The brave first flowers emerging from their tomb-like bulbs into colorful life, the sudden surprise green of the new leaves, the bright green grass displacing the brown of winter, all speak to me of new beginnings. Even in the snowy cold of a Minnesota Easter, the glory of Easter shines forth for me with the power of a new beginning, new hope, a new life in the power of the resurrection. “Christ the Lord is risen today!” “He is risen indeed!”