It's the Most Wonderful Time...

The first time that I heard the Staples' back-to-school ad playing "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year," I did not have my head turned to the tv. My first thought was to cringe, thinking that someone was already doing Christmas ads in the summer. When I turned towards the television, I burst out laughing at those two pitiful-looking children, drudging down the aisle, heads down, pushing the cart, getting their back to school supplies, with their dad coming behind them leaping for joy. For some parents, I think back-to-school is the most wonderful time - I watch as working friends struggle to find summer daycare for their children; as others figure out drop-off/pick-up summer camp/class schedules that some rocket scientists would have problems figuring out; as some come back more stressed from their "vacation" than they were when they left - you get the idea.

This evening, as I cleaned up after supper, I heard that song in my head and I thought, yeah, this is the most wonderful time. Supper is over, clean-up is over, a load of clothes in the washer - AND IT"S STILL LIGHT OUT!!! It's getting warmer, brighter, and today the sky was a bright blue instead of overcast.

It's a time of new life. Of new shoots, new grass, new flowers, baby birds and other baby animals. Let us reflect in these Lenten days the opportunity we have for new life, for change in direction, for repentance and the accompanying forgiveness.