It’s been a long, cold, harsh Chicago winter. I am one among many who are clearly eager for the spring to arrive and to announce its presence with gusto.

Living in North America, the Christian remembrance of Easter and the Jewish celebration of Passover are accompanied by the slowly emerging warmth, the hope of spring, and glimpses of what soon will be: budding trees, chirping birds, evidence of green life breaking through the soil, and even early flowers beginning to show their colors. These hopeful signs make our religious celebrations come alive in tangible ways.

The Passover and Easter stories highlight spiritual themes deeply meaningful and relevant to our human journeys: new life emerging from death, liberation from bondage, light overcoming darkness. These stories are important reminders that no matter how dark and cold our days, and even when we forget or lose sight, there is always more than just what we see and experience in any given moment. The winter struggles are no less true – but somehow they are held and transcended by the hope of spring.

New life
shall again emerge,
breaking forth
from the cold,
hardened
soil.

Hope and possibility
will return
like good friends,
soul mates,
once lost
but found again,
and my heart
shall again
flutter and take flight
like the birds
and butterflies
of spring.

Mark Laboe is Associate Vice President, DePaul University Ministry