When Spring First Came

Remembering Resurrection!   by Elva Cobb Martin

Allston Family Cemetery, Brookgreen Gardens, Myrtle Beach  SC

There is no shouting in the grave. The raging oceans and the world's clamor are silenced. Spring never comes. Seeds do not sprout. No fruit is harvested.

Except for one grave, dug before that first Spring in stony ground for a bruised and broken Seed.

The three women who came to that grave that morning knew about death and preparation of the body. They knew nothing about Spring (not that Spring).

They brought embalming spices, and their main concern was how to move the heavy stone from the the door. Perhaps they wept as they walked along, if they had any tears left.

Perhaps relief had settled on their hearts. Relief that the agony of the Crucifixion was over. Relief that the Sabbath was over, and they could anoint the body of their Friend. Relief--even peace--from the knowledge that they had served their friend in life as they now intended to do in death. They had not saved their flowers for the grave, as some do.

But there was no joy in their hearts. In that day before Spring, only an enemy or a fool would have felt joy at a grave.

"For God so loved the world, He gave his only son." John 3:16

So they came, with their dearly purchased spices, prepared to do all they knew how for the dead. To slow the rot and curb the odor with the embalming spices.

Last at the cross, now first at the tomb, the three women, with their womanly thoughts, concerns, and fears, trudged along that garden path oblivious that Spring had come and that the first fruit of that stony ground was within their touch.

"I am the way the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father, but by me."John 14:6

 

Mary Magdalene, the Bible tells us, was the first to know. Her joyful shout, "Rabboni!" shattered the silent, dark shroud that had lain over mankind through the ages.

The jars of embalming spices fell to the ground as useless as the structures man had built to reach God since the beginning of time. God had reached down to man! Spring had come at last!

After 2,000 years it is still news. It is still news because men still build useless structures, try embalming spices, or climb into trees, as Zaccheus did, to see God.

And most amazing of all, God is still passing by!

                                                           ***

Note: The above is the very first article I sold to a magazine some years ago.
Whoever dreamed a novice writer could make an Easter issue? Just goes to show, you and the Lord can accomplish great things! So keep writing.

What does Easter mean to you? Besides the wonderful spiritual meaning, I love the beautiful season of spring. Below are some photos that inspire Spring in my heart. Hope they do the same for you.

Be blessed,
Elva Cobb Martin

Cherry Blossoms

Brookgreen Gardens Old Gate , Myrtle Beach, SC

Savannah, Georgia, azalea garden square

Brittany, France coast

New Orleans garden

Georgetown, SC