"March comes in like a
lion and goes out like a lamb."
We've all lived through enough years by now to know exactly how March
works. Totally unpredictable except for knowing there's always in
it a lion and a lamb. Both.
No one knew, of course, that this year's lion would roar so voraciously,
taking the entire world by storm. The unforgiving lion of winter.
Now that the lamb has gingerly entered the scene, I wonder if the lion will
lie down and cry "Uncle!" Surely he knows he's been
defeated. Surely he knows the havoc he's wreaked will be relegated to the
history books and photographers' blogs. Will he gain any satisfaction in
that, I wonder? Or will he whimper away with his tail between his legs.
The 'liddle lamzy divey' could hardly wield that kind of power, right?! Make the lion
cry "Uncle?" Are you kidding me?
In his Marriage of Heaven and
Hell, I wonder what English poet William Blake meant
when he said "The wrath of the lion is the wisdom of God"?
Surely it's a bit simplistic to say something good will come out of an earth
shaken loose on its axis. That there's a reason for everything.
That a phoenix with arise from these ashes.
Let's say, as does the ancient writ, the lion does not whimper away but lies down with the lamb. That
the two reconcile and enjoy a marriage of sorts. An understanding.
I'll do the roaring and you'll do the 'lambing.' I'll wreak havoc and
you'll clean it up. I'll take life and you'll give it. Death and
resurrection.
I have no clue how these things work. Several years ago, shortly
after my divorce, a fire in my condo building the week before Christmas
destroyed all the units and rendered us all homeless...we thought. The Red
Cross was Johnny on the spot, as were our insurance companies, quickly getting
us housed, clothed and situated during the next 6 months of rebuilding.
How it happened, I can't explain, but after all was said and done, I was in a
better situation than before. I lost a lot, yes, but gained even more.
The wrath of the lion. The wisdom of God.
When there are no answers to the Why's, do we give up? No. A
few days ago Kath said we dare to hope. And why don't we give up? Why do we hope? Because we
know every March has a lion and a lamb. We have lived long enough...we
don't even question it any more. As surely as there is death, there is
resurrection.
Soon after the lion roars, the newborn lamb wobbles to life. It's
like an Eternal Spring lives inside our collective psyche. And here it is
now before us. Spring has sprung!
