Cherry blossoms falling in the wind

I made a blog post about the cherry blossoms in bloom and talked about it in a podcast recently. This year the cherry blossoms have even more significance for me. 

Cherry blossoms are always an empirical sign that spring is here and summer is on it's way but this year it's more than that. It's the calm but sure assurance that everything's going to be alright like Bob Marley proclaimed in the song No Woman no Cry. As I also mentioned in a recent podcast about the whirlwind of insanity that surrounds us and bombards us daily on the fake news, everything's going to be alright. The sky isn't going to fall. We're not going to crash into another economic recession triggering another stock market depression. 

Trump's recent 90 day pause to tariffs shows that his billionaire supporters see the folly of this quest. Now they say his strategic tariff negotiations has been brilliant. Not but that's OK. We'll let him have his fake victory so he can save face over the defiant stupidity. Tariffs hurt American farmers and we all want to support American farmers as well as farmers around the world. 

The CIA's persistent China defamation has shown that tariffs against China also hurt American farmers. We buy things manufactured in China. That trade creates Canadian jobs in the ports, on the railways and in the retail sector. 

As I previously said American manufactured products help create Canadian jobs. Everyone at the local Harley dealer are Canadians. Now we can all see beyond the narrow minded protectionism of Fascism and see how that silly math shoots yourself in the foot. Now we can move forward in peace. 

So yes, the cherry blossoms are a sign but today the sign has become even more real as they fall from the sky and dance in the wind. I picked up a handful of cherry blossoms on the ground and threw them in the air saying to the kids look, it's snowing. Cherry blossoms blowing in the wind are a vivid reminder of God's love that surrounds us. 

When I was in elementary school they taught us about haiku poetry. Three lines that don't necessarily rhyme but use words as symbols to illustrate an image and a feeling.  

"on the river cherry blossoms float my worries away."  Raphe Dacre, Age 12 Christchurch, New Zealand. For me it's even more celebratory. Like confetti at a wedding or celebration. 

Sakura is the Japanese word for cherry blossoms. The fall of the Sakura is a description of today as the cherry blossoms gently fall and dance in the wind. Korea, Japan, Vancouver - peace. 

When I did a search on YouTube for falling cherry blossoms in Vancouver uploaded today I found this short of a young woman taking a selfie with falling cherry blossoms and the song A Thousand Years by Christina Perri playing  in the background. 

The lyrics that struck me were the clip she posted which says Heart beats fast, Colors and promises, How to be brave? How ... then it cut out so I looked up the song on YouTube. The line I want to discuss is how to be brave. 

In context the song appears to be talking about relationships but that's the the context I'm using it in. The song says "I have loved you for a thousand years. I'll love you for a thousand more." It could be allegorical but it could also refer to a belief in a preexistence and an afterlife both of which I do believe in. 

Jeremiah 1:5 states "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee" and I submit loved thee. It's referring to God's love for his children. He loved us before we were born because he knew us. Now I don't want to get all holy roller but I just want to put the feelings I have in context. 

I see people try to steer me for their own political purposes but that's not what I'm talking about here. I'm talking about the love God has for all of his children. God is not a respecter of persons But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.

I'm not just talking about the Christian God here or the Jewish God, or the Muslim God or the Sikh God. I'm talking about the Great Architect of the Universe. The Grand Geometrician so to speak. The one who created the Universe and everything in it. 

When I went on my road trip in the summer of 2023, two songs became the theme for that trip - Bob Seger: Roll Me Away and Susan Ashton: Grand Canyon. 

I came across Susan Ashton's song Grand Canyon from a video I found on YouTube of a few local motorcyclists from Vancouver that went on a road trip to the Grand Canyon. 

The thing that seemed to strike those riders was the majesty of the Grand Canyon. They related that to Susan Ashton's use of the Grand Canyon as an allegory to describe how she felt about her relationship with God. In that song she declared "Sometimes I feel like I'm as close as your shadow and Sometimes I feel like I'm looking up at you from the bottom of the Grand Canyon." 

I can relate to that. Well today when I see the falling cherry blossoms dancing in the wind I feel I'm as close as his shadow. I can feel the love God has for all of mankind. Especially Gaza.

It brings us back to Daniel. Sometimes we all feel like we're looking up at God from the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Isaiah once said "But Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me."

Zion here doesn't just mean the Jews. There were 12 tribes in Israel not just one and Abraham had more than one child. Zion in this context means anyone who aspires to something higher like Bob Marley did. All of us at times feel as though God has forgotten us and forsaken us. 

Then Isaiah declares "Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee." He uses the analogy of a mother to reassure people that God has not forgotten us. The Lord then declares "Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me." What does that mean? Wait 'till I tell ye. 

Bruce R McKonkie once declared that for the final three hours Christ hung on the cross, all the horrifying pains of Gethsemane returned. While he was nailed to the cross he saw, felt and experienced all our pains and sorrow. Our walls are continually before him. So that explains the love of God. 

Now let's look at something an angel once said to Daniel and see how that applies to bravery. "O man greatly beloved, fear not: peace be unto thee, be strong, yea, be strong." When Daniel felt the love of God, it strengthened him. 

Why is that? Because perfect love casteth out all fear. Genuine love creates bravery. Look at how a mother will defend her child or how a bear will defend her cub. If we love someone or something, we will defend it. 

Christina Perri's first children's book A Thousand Years is about the love a parent has for their child. So for me Christina Perri's song A Thousand Years isn't about the love between a man and a woman. It's about the love God has for all of his children and the love we have for our own children. If we can feel that love then we can be brave in the face of adversity. Peace.