Many faces of Easter: A rebirth of hope, spring, color

You don’t have to be a poet to recognize spring as a time of rebirth.

Fact is, you don’t even have to step outside to have the concept hit you in the face like these constant April showers (which, we’re told, almost certainly will bring May flowers). Oh, you could do it that old-fashioned way, of course. You know, spend a little time in the great outdoors watching plants pushing skyward toward the warmth of the sun or the buds on the trees bulging until finally they simply must burst open in a sea of color that finally chases away the gray of winter.

You could stop to listen to the songs of the birds, the buzz of the bees, the chorus of the frogs.

But, hey, this is 2011 and we know you don’t want to set your smart phone aside lest someone send you an important tweet about what they’re having for breakfast. So go ahead and type in “spring as a time of rebirth” and see how many hits you get on Google (we got 6,170,000) or Yahoo (6,980,000).

See: We told you spring is a time of rebirth.

And with Easter landing when it does this year, well, the whole idea of rebirth becomes even more poignant for Christians. (Type in “Easter and rebirth” and you get 6,030,000 hits on Yahoo and 2,180,000 hits on Google.)

Beyond the deep religious significance of the holiday, think about what else Easter has come to symbolize. After a winter of parkas and slush-covered boots, we slip into brightly colored clothes to hunt for even more brightly colored eggs delivered by a giant bunny who seems to come in many colors, but hardly ever gray.

Unless you’re a fan of the Pittsburgh Pirates — or trying on your swimsuit for the first time in a few months — spring is almost always a time of hope and optimism. Call it rebirth or search for something less cliché, we won’t quibble.

It’s another fresh start in a world that never seems to run out of them.