Friday Five (but on Sunday): Signs of Hope

Friday Five: Signs of Hope
As posted at RevGalBlogPals by Songbird:

My beloved speaks and says to me: “Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away; for now the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. The fig tree puts forth its figs, and the vines are in blossom; they give forth fragrance. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away. (Song of Solomon 2:10-13, NRSV)

In the late, late winter, as the snow begins to recede here in Maine, we begin to look almost desperately for signs of spring, signs of hope that the weather has turned and a new day is on the horizon. For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, Easter and Spring twine inextricably, the crocuses and daffodils peeking through the Earth as we await the risen Christ.

Share with us five signs of hope that you can see today or have experienced in the past.

1. Every year when the jacaranda tree by my classroom begins to bloom, I know that there is hope, and that I will survive the year intact, and that summer is indeed coming.

2. Strangely enough, the dawning of Lent is filled with hope.

3. The warming light of comprehension in a student's eyes.

4. Each spring, our backyard lights afire with a yellow sea of what some would call weeds but that I call beauty.

5. Every time I put pen to paper in search of poetry or truth, it is a hopeful sign.

Bonus: Every time I read a poem by Mary Oliver, my core fills with hope and other resonant emotions. (Her new book, Evidence, is amazing. Just...amazing.)