Flowers 2015 wall calender featuring photographs by Christopher Gruver

Few of my friends understand my affection for Lent (those 40 days of deprivation observed by Catholics and many Christian denominations between Ash Wednesday and Easter), but I tell them I appreciate Lent because it’s a seasonal holiday. The word “Lent” itself comes from the same root word as “lengthen” and refers to the hours of daylight that grow longer during the season of spring. Lent is a time of rapid, visible, and dramatic growth in the natural world: “the force,” as Dylan Thomas puts it, “that through the green fuse drives the flower.” So why not ally with this powerful force and use its energy to make changes in your life? Continue reading →