“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day. And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: And God made two great lights; the

greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the

night: he made the stars also. And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth”.

Genesis 1:1-3, 5-6, 8, 9, 11, 14, 16, 20, 24, 26 ( KJV )

I can almost imagine it. An empty vacuum totally devoid of color. Light and dark had not been created. Just emptiness stretching on into eternity. Emptiness, emptiness

Then God created . . .

Oh, what a masterpiece; full of planets and stars and celestial beings to fill the giant spaces, colors of every hue (only 6 – 7% visible to our eyes), sounds of every level and pitch, water in all its forms, and living beings of every imaginable design and purpose.

Martie and I walk. We walk in every season and in all kinds of weather. Sometimes in a single weekend we'll walk more miles than many people do in a month. From easy to strenuous we have our favorite hikes. We stop, we look, we enjoy and we are always looking for new places, adventures and beauty.

God created the seasons. We in Pennsylvania are in a wonderfully beautiful place to truly enjoy the creation of seasons. Today is the first day of spring: the official meteorological/climatological beginning of rebirth and renewal. Take time to enjoy God's creation as the cycle begins anew.

Lent represents the beginning of “Christian spring”. It is God's season of spiritual birth, rebirth or renewal. It is culminated in the cross: the official Biblical – spiritual beginning of a new life. Take time to prepare and enjoy this time as the cycle begins anew.

BRAD JOHNSON