The Birthday of Life

 

i who have died
am alive again today,
and this is the sun's birthday,
this is the birthday of life
and of love and wings
and the gay great happening
illimitably earth.
This is one of my favorite e.e.cummings' poems. It helps me think about the New Life that is the Risen Jesus and the exuberance I feel as he shares that Life with me.
I took some time this morning to reflect on some famous paintings of the Resurrection while I listened to Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. This music never fails to lift me into that joy which is at the heart of Easter.
In his account of that first Easter morning Matthew says, "Filled with awe and great joy the women came quickly away from the tomb and ran to tell his disciples." (28:8)