Today we celebrate Ascensio Domini (Christi Himmelfahrt).
This is a bank holiday in Germany and a lot of other (especially northern and western) european countries (such as Scandinavia, Netherlands, Denmark, France, Belgium, Luxembourg but also Switzerland and Austria).
This „holy (!)-day“ is celebrated not on a variable date such as Easter (which is always after the first full moon in spring time) but it’s every year on a fixed date: exactly 40 days after Easter and 10 days before Pentecost (Pfingsten).
On this day religious people celebrate that the body of Jesus was ascended into heaven.
In our todays world this is difficult to imagine for people who are not believing.
For me the sense of this religious event is that we should continue to believe, no matter what happens in life.
And if you believe, you will find miracles everywhere.
If we look at nature – we can observe in these days how plants are growing out of a dry, solid soil, where we put some seeds in a couple of weeks ago.
We can observe how flowers are showing us their most beautiful colours.
And we can observe how everything is getting greener and greener.
Who would have thought about such miracles 3 months ago when our surrounding was cold, trees were naked and the only colour to see was grey or brown?!
This really is a miracle!
And this miracle can get even brighter. This is why traditionally people prayed and asked during this week of Ascensio Domini for a good harvest at the end of the summer.
And they asked to protect the creation,
to protect nature.
Today in Germany people use to go out for a walk, they celebrate Father’s Day, nobody is thinking anymore about the meaning of the day, about the body of Jesus, about belief, about miracles.
However what I found out is that also this holy-day is connected to nature.
And if we talk about nature,
we talk about miracles.
If we talk about miracles,
we talk about wonderful things that happen in our life.
As per the tradition I am now asking for a good harvest at the end of this summer.
And I will see if the small piece of land that I rented will turn out into a miracle.
Now it seems still all empty but I can already observe how small tiny plants are coming out of the soil.
And while I ask nature in this week of Ascensio Domini for a lot of miracles, I also ask to send some miracles to you.
If you look at nature, maybe you will find them ? And maybe you will realize all the wonderful things that happen in your life?
Happy Ascensio Domini
Yours Tanja
