It's the first full day of spring, following the equinox at 8 PM last night. Early spring here is a frustrating kind of time, because the snow takes weeks to melt away, leaving us with icy sidewalks, mucky lanes, and more and more potholes. The temperature oscillates around the freezing mark, and freeze-thaw cycles wreck road surfaces faster than anything. The air still has a chilly edge to it, but spring is here indeed -- a parishioner told me yesterday that she had been woken up by birds in the trees outside. Last week's snowfall was probably winter's last gasp...

Besides being the first day of spring, it's also the day in our calendar when we commemorate Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, the architect of the English Reformation and the compiler of the first Book of Common Prayer. Many people here love Cranmer's English, and can recite the BCP prayers by heart. I tend to see his legacy as somewhat mixed. Yes, he gave us a book that has fed many people very deeply, but he did his job almost too well. The book was only to be a vehicle in the reforming of the church, but today for some (sadly IMHO) it is almost the raison d'etre of the Anglican Church.

Reformation and renewal of the church is a bit like spring in Manitoba: it comes slowly, haltingly, frustratingly. But it comes. It has to come, and it has to come. Semper reformanda!

Oh God of life,
as the seasons turn, you call us always into new life.
Renew your church, breath into it new life,
and continue lead us into the New Jerusalem,
from where flow your streams of living water.